Last Quarter Song

By: Daniel David Moses

How long ago did our Grandmother go
To the moon? Is it true, do you know? All

Grandmothers do when their business here is
Done? How full there that moon is tonight

In the crystalline air. If our Grandma
Is watching over us from way up high,

Surely she can see our futures. Oh if
Only the moon’s reflection, suddenly

So close on the water we’ve been stirring
With our paddles - oh if only it were

Our Grandma’s face. Then it wouldn’t matter
That the moon wanes and waxes. Its light,

New or old, would stand in for her promise
To always come back and welcome us home

From our navigation of the rivers
Of the night. We’d never lose our paddles.