Moon Shadows

There was sincerity in serenity

As laughter filled the air

On the beach that night.

The world sat back

And simply lit our way

With a blazing night light,

Casting moon shadows

On the hilly sand around us.

And where we would

Normally have fumbled

In darkness to move,

We could see every face,

And each attached shadow.

The ease of our flow

Was the gain of our youth,

With our coming-of-age

A pass into the doldrums

Of the dancefloor.*

We always meant to go back

And commemorate our

Old haunt with one more session,

But the lure of cheap drinks

And strange people

In the conformity of clubs

Is too strong for the thirsty.

The beats operate

In the sea’s stead,

The rhythm bringing hope

(a drunken delusion)

Where waves brought peace

(without intrusion).

And there are no moon shadows

Where we go now,

Just lights in strobes

Splintering our lust;

While back on the beach

The moon casts its silhouettes

In fond silence,

Fleeting in form,

Yet with dashes of shadows

Come and gone –

And free.

Always free.

* Oddly a rare retreat sometimes –

Lost from madness

Within more madness,

Only the sought madness

Is unknown,

And better because of it.