Cróna Gallagher
RAIN 6 (MARBLES)

 

Cat found a butterfly net and scampered through the fields

to steal pearl moon from its velvet box, but she found it

to be made of glass and cast it to the quick river;

got Dog to interrogate and terrorize,

to waterboard that orb, snap its will

and blur its wits until it became

disorientated and confused

 

and willingly gave up its goods.

The silver lining and the silver tongue inside it

kept telling them that the rain was once

a tranquil sea inside this very moon.

A sterling silver hallmarked sea

struck with a crafter’s crater punch:

it turned its cheek to show

the inoculated mark. The branding.

 

And they saw it all on silver screen.

The silent movie crackled on its spool

as Cat and Dog in silence watched the movie fade to grey

and the moon melt like ice under the glare of many spotlights.

They gathered up the stars and stuffed them in their pockets,

played a game of marbles as the clouds in their heads popped like popcorn

and they slurped on slushies made from the dust of the crushed-ice moon.

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