After an unexpected hiatus from writing, I’m trying to find my way back into a routine. As it’s the first Friday of the month, and the Inklings have been so supportive and kind, I decided posting today would be a good first step. I am cheating a bit, though, because the poem I’m sharing today was written in early November.
This month, Mary Lee challenged us to “Type a color into the search bar of public domain image archive and choose an image to write from.” I entered “white” and found this image, which I think matches my poem quite well:
Ohara Koson, ca. 1920
via Rijksmuseum
Last fall, I shared the picture book version of Ada Limón‘s magical poem, In Praise of Mystery, with gorgeous illustrations by Peter Sís with my sixth graders. We were reading A Rover’s Story, by Jasmine Warga, at the time, and I challenged them to write an ode to Mars. I wrote this poem as a model for them.
In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for the Moon
(after Ada Limón)
Luna, Selene, Chandra, Moon
Keeper of time, guardian of dreams
You dazzle us with your charm.
We miss you each month while
You’re off playing hide and seek with the sun.
Your absence deepens your mystery
And we wonder about your changing face.
Some nights you shine silver,
Like a huge coin hanging in the sky.
Other nights, your glow is as golden
As a ripe apricot.
And always we wonder: is anyone there?
We gaze at your surface and see
Old men, rabbits, foxes, toads.
We ask, what could those craters be hiding?
Tethered together.
We are on this cosmic ride for eternity.
© Catherine Flynn, 2025
Please be sure to read my fellow Inklings responses to this challenge:
Heidi @ My Juicy Little Universe
Linda @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret @ Reflections on the Teche
Mary Lee @ Another Year of Reading
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Then head over to Beyond Literacy Link, where Carol has the Poetry Friday Roundup.
Reading to the Core 
Yes! The picture you found matches your poem perfectly! I love how you lightly wove facts about the moon with all the ways it keeps us wondering, no matter how well-known it is. My favorite line: “Tethered together.” The sound of it, its perfect brevity, its absolute truth.
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Yay for your writing hiatus and now getting back to the page! I love this art and your poem is lovely. I have a signed copy of Ada’s book – it’s gorgeous. xo
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But but but Catherine!!! I noted your title and that your poem today (welcome back!) would be a moon poem, but I didn’t scroll down far enough to see that we both put in “white” and both chose the same image! It’s quite the coincidence–or is it? I realize I’ve seen this poem before, and I guess this painting and your poem echoed in my mind as I perused the PDIA. Either way, and I mean this literally, GOOD HEAVENS. We have both been blessed by this bunny to write something meaningful (although I could not have predicted that I needed a rabbit’s laundry advice today). Your middle stanza,
Some nights you shine silver,
Like a huge coin hanging in the sky.
Other nights, your glow is as golden
As a ripe apricot.
is just delicious, but I especially like the way you don’t let Moon be totally know, but preserve its mystery.
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Oh, I love your poem, Catherine, & that image is indeed inspiring! I gave In Praise of Mystery to several people for Christmas and adore The Rover’s Story. How wonderful that you’re sharing those with your students! The ending of your poem seems just right for now: “cosmic ride for eternity”, where we are?
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The art has a lovely, gauzy look to it and pairs perfectly with your poem, Catherine!
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I do hope seeing this poem in its proper place here on your safe writing space will be the perfect invitation to come back again. What a beautiful ode to the moon.
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Catherine, lovely image and poem. I do love the rabbit gazing up. Heidi wrote about the same image today. Have you seen hers? Of course, she went a totally different direction. (That is what would be expected if anyone wrote about the same picture, isn’t it?) There is so much truth in this stanza, which seems something I wonder each time I see the moon. It is hard to follow the pattern of all the changes.
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Hmmmm..for some reason my initial comment could not be posted! I’ll try to recap and hope for a better outcome this time. How delightful to see you here weaving art and poetry together! I was especially struck by your ending lines: Tethered together./
We are on this cosmic ride for eternity.
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Oh I love this whole process of how this poem came to be. I really like “your absence deepens your mystery.”
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Love imaging the moon playing hide and seek with the sun. Thank you for this.
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It’s so good to see your words in this space! My favorite line is, “And always always we wonder: Is anyone there?” A fabulous re-entry into PF.
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So glad you’re back to writing, Catherine. I’m not sure what’s been going on, but I’m sending good thoughts your way. This is a gorgeous poem–I love its poignant quality, and those last two lines especially. xo
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“And always we wonder: is anyone there?” really speaks to me this morning! Such an existential question that applies in many contexts. Wonderful poem, Catherine. I’m glad you’re back to writing!
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