it’s funny how the half-bitten moon takes me back to those cold winter nights when i would stand outside, my arms shivering, trying to get a glimpse of the celestial body through the fog — a kind of restive peace descending all over me, blood in my hands, seemingly more blue than red. i was a witness to the change of every breath and every distant sound that would make its presence known to me.
now as i stand outside looking at the same half-bitten moon, i am not shivering and i am not under the spell of the quiet and peace, that may prevail elsewhere. but it is not the same moon; i am not the same eye or arm or form. every change received and given courses through me, through my blood that is in and not out, the night in me deeper, the music a darker hue of blue. this transition is alright. i am alright tonight.
a waning moon —
memories of lonely nights
flowing through me
~
a change in the backdrop —
the milk-white moon sturdier
in the lasting cold
© Anmol Arora 2018
Image source (Windy Landscape With Waning Moon by Rachel Fenner)
For dVerse Haibun Monday
HA's Place 
I don’t know exactly what happened here, but you made me think of all those moon myths, and the power of the moon itself.
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There’s a sense of maturity in this, acceptance and peace.
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Acceptance is sometimes enforced but that is also significant. Thanks for your kind comment, Jane. 🙂
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🙂
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I love how you saw the change in the moon which was more a change in yourself… maybe the moon is a mirror.
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I love you circle round with the moon–the same and different. You still you, but not, yet accepting the changes, just as the moon’s phases change (and I suppose the whole universe).
The two haiku perfectly summarizes all this, and Bach’s counterpoint compliments it.
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Thanks, Merril, for your thoughtful comment and a lovely prompt. 🙂
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You are very welcome.
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Love this write. Most especially the affirmation in these words:
“this transition is alright. i am alright tonight.”
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Ah, the affirmation holds the key to that sense of acceptance. Thank you, Lillian! ❤
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What a clever way to rock the prompt, HA; really enjoyed it. How fortunate that the present You feels the changes since the past, and embraces them.Hold on to that vigor, as you move toward the winter of your life.
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Thanks, Glenn! The winter is palpable throughout even if it is far in the coming. Ha! XD 🙂
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this speaks with a wonderful sense of quietude – despite the “half bitten moon” – but then, sometimes a half bite isn’t always nasty;
I like how you’ve woven the layers in this – bring the intimate aspects of the details, the physicality mixing with a broader point of view, that many can understand – that sense of crisis, questioning, etc. and yet, you’ve kept it simple for the language – which I think lends it really great impact.
this piece is rich for its poetics, it speaks with a personal voice, and it also reaches out to the body of “humanness” – which makes it very eloquent and graceful – and the two haiku complete the scene, the picture and loop it back.
everything is constant motion, and flux and flow – the moon, the sun, the tides, as are we – so change is the one constant we can be sure of – and yet, within it, we also can find our footing and grounding –
wonderful poem/haibun Anmol 🙂
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So well put! You have a way with the words which I really admire. Even in your comments, you weave the interpretation in a wonderfully coherent and concise form, which one may find difficult to do even in the poetics.
Thank you for your generous comment, Pat! I am glad that you appreciated the simple diction. I have figured that (at least for me) in periods of self-reflection and past recollections, the vocabulary and sentence structure turn to the most basic forms of understanding and expression that are more conversational with short phrases and repetition of pronouns and nouns. Still trying to understand it further. 🙂
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my pleasure 🙂
and thank you – what a lovely comment to offer on my “commenting” style 🙂
as for “understanding” the dynamics of self-expression?
it’s simple. really.
when your spirit, soul whispers, speaks, cries, screams, shouts … it just needs to be heard, and understood – for whatever revelations you need to hear, know, understand ….
and the language it perhaps must use, is, I think, by it’s very inherent nature “Simple.”
I’m sure, if you stop and take some time to just “think” on moments, when some personal and intimate “self-revelation” has come to you, you will see that it often comes in a very to the point way.
It’s the “mind” – the mind that then tries to make connections, to understand, to branch out, to figure out “more” – either to ease pain, or wounds, to assuage fears etc. that “distorts” for the noise.
Some people call it “monkey mind” – a chattering that is incessant; a mix of voices (from all people’s etc.) that runs “interference” …. and depending on what “message” your spirit/soul is trying to tell you, the “vocalizations” of the mind then will play with the volume.
So, in essence, it doesn’t surprise me that when you find yourself deeper in self-reflection, that everything gets stripped down, and pared back – because your soul and spirit doesn’t need to “fancy pants word dance” to reach you – it doesn’t want to “play mind games” …. it just wants to reconnect ….
(and I think this is true for most people, if we can stop to listen – and perhaps, not be afraid of what we might hear) 💜
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This is a perfect illustration of how the circumstances don’t change – just our response to them. Lovely description.
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Exactly! Thanks for your thoughtful comment. 🙂
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I like you saw your perceived your transition against the moon, which goes through a cycle of sameness. The moon may be the same, but our sensory experiences may be different. Love the second part, specially: how the night in me deeper, the music a darker hue of blue. Your double haiku presents two perspectives of changes.
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Thanks, Grace! 🙂
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I like this write. I am a sucker for anything about the moon. The moon changes, you change. The half bitten moon is a winderful image.
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every change received and given courses through me… like that… we are the sum of our pasts and yet more or less than it.
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Amazing picture and music, Anmol, which reflect what you are saying in the haibun. Colour seeps through your words and I love how the half-bitten moon is a reflection of you, your past and present, your self-awareness.
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the moon has a steady cycle and creates the same in you, appreciate how you see the moon continues the same and the change in you is something you can be comfortable in, the blood still runs through – i found this reference utterly symbolic of a life realising its full potential
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The moon keeps coming back to remind us of our past.
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Everything changes except the sturdy cold, the inevitable dissipation of entropy, but that’s ok, there is this moment and the pale moon. Thank you for this Anmol
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I’m undone! Such a wonderful unfolding of vibrant images in your prose, and haiku that complement so evocatively! a wonderful write!
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Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #9: Anmol Arora’s #haibun for #dversepoets
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The blood in the hands is at once an intrigue, a contrast to the cold blue of the night. But with the next sentence about being witness to every breath and sound, I feel like whatever it is that led you to have bloody hands is not as extraordinary as this Breath. The eternal inhale/exhale, the pull on the earth and all of your cells. The painting also has a kind of lunar energy. Are you familiar with Emily Carr’s paintings?
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