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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHAT THE MOON KNOWS, by RICHARD BEHM
First Line: The secrets of the owl's wing
First Line: The secrets of the owl's wing
The secrets of the owl's wing,
The runes of wolf and lynx,
The cryptography of shadows on the snow
The furtive song of rabbit and mouse,
What the rattling oak leaves mean,
The cipher of frost on a window
Illuminated by a sheen of blue light,
Whose footfall crosses the frozen lake
Each step erased by the sweep of wind.
Where the bones are hidden
And how they got there and what
You are thinking now staring up
Into that stony eye, your heart
Just another small creature beating
Against the fluttering wall of darkness.
Copyright (c) 2001 by The Modern Poetry Association.
This poem appears in the September 2001 issue of Poetry Magazine.
http://www.poetrymagazine.org
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