Beautiful Full Moon

by Scott Slemmons

There is a beautiful full moon up high in the sky

It's up there right now

lighting up the landscape like a spotlight

There is a beautiful full moon tonight

& I want to howl so bad

I want to run with the moon

& hunt like an animal

I want to howl so bad

but I cannot

The world frowns on

running & howling & full moons

Such things are quaint & romantic

but not practical

& just barely legal

There are a thousand old ladies

who are ready to speed-dial 911

at the first sound of

a high clear howl on a moonlit night

There are a million cops

& a billion law-abiding citizens

ready to gather dry kindling

& forge silver bullets

They don't have to believe

They'd do it out of boredom

There is a beautiful full moon up there tonight

shining & laughing & round

I hear it call to me

I feel its pull

I can look up

& stare straight into its white white light

I want to howl

I want to howl so bad

© 1999 by Scott Slemmons

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