.

Moon Glow

The calm of the twilight should bring him some peace.
He sees yellow remnants of sun get deceased.
A tropical fragrance now floats through the air.
This beauty is breathless; no words can compare.

The lights of cabanas expose the dark piers,
The rush of the ocean is spraying his ears.
He watches the moon as she’s starting to rise.
A small island band plays a lovely reprise.

The bars are just closing; their lights are now dim.
Full moon casts a glow as his thoughts start to swim.
Reflections of moon on the surface of sea
begin to encourage his bad thoughts to flee.

Alone with the ocean, the moon and his mind,
He stares at the sky, which has helped him unwind
The moon’s looking back; she is blinding his eyes.
No doubt she’s the master of starless night skies.

Some clouds streak the sky; now they cover the moon,
while stars have a party; but they’ll be gone soon.
The stars have all faded; the clouds move along.
He hopes that the moonlight will help him be strong.

He stares at the moon for a very long time;
begins to go home with the moon on his mind.
It soon will be morning; he’s walking alone.
Soft glow from the moonlight has followed him home.

.

.

Pamela Ruggiero was born in Urbana, Illinois in 1952. She currently resides in Antioch, California.
She was a software engineer and did consultation work in IT. She also played tournament chess at a high level and did oil paintings. She’s now retired.

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19 Responses

  1. Roy E. Peterson

    This is a beautifully written poem with an untold mystery of why “he” was out all night in a tropical paradise and why he was alone.

    Reply
    • Pamela Ruggiero

      Thank you so much for reading my poem and commenting on it. This man was troubled maybe at the beginning of the night, but he definitely got calm as the night went on.

      Reply
  3. Shamik Banerjee

    A very beautiful piece, carrying a sensation of calmness in it. Lovely imagery! It’s strange how the moon’s glow or an ocean’s rhythm, an everyday phenomenon, can do magic at times and thwart all bleak thoughts from dimming one’s mood. Wonderful work. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. Paul A. Freeman

    The becalming Moon. It does have that effect.

    I’ve only consciously used 11-syllable lines in a poem once or twice before. Lunacy, you may say – but not in this case.

    A soothing and optimistic piece, Pamela. Thanks for the read.

    Reply
    • Pamela Ruggiero

      Thank you so much for commenting on my poem. I’m rather new here so I’m still having a little trouble navigating things but I appreciate so much what you say and yes, 11 syllables for line is harder than I usually write eight syllables per line in iambic pentameter. So this took a little getting used to

      I like the nice things you said about my phone thank you

      Reply
  6. Daniel Kemper

    Pamela, well the moon sure knows how to make sure she stays on a man’s mind, that’s for sure. Extended personifications are a particular pleasure to me.

    Well, I’ll be darned– to top it off, another ex-IT guy/gal! And just off the good ole’ BART, too. I’m a Sacramentan now, but Bay Area guy for a long time. Pleased to meet you!!

    Reply
    • Pamela rug

      I am pleased to meet you too. I worked for 40 years and IT starting as a programmer progressing to programmer analyst and then software engineer and then software engineer and consultant for the business people that was very difficult. I missed programming because that was very worked on your time, and you didn’t have to deal with the suits as I called them

      Thank you for taking the time to read and review my poem. I appreciate it very much and cheers. To use a technical term lol

      Reply
  7. Margaret Coats

    Pamela, this is a finely flowing moon glow poem, with several other qualities to praise. You create a central character who is not a speaker–most appropriate, because the personification of the moon cannot speak. There is also a resort setting done in few words without direct statements about it. But your central effect is light, which shines or not or half-shines when streaks of the clouds allow a starlight party. The title “Moon Glow” is a fit one.

    Think of your lines here not as 11-syllable, but as four-stress.

    The BARS are just CLOSing; their LIGHTS are now DIM.

    Technically speaking, this is anapestic tetrameter, or four feet of non-stress, non-stress, STRESS. In every line, you begin with an iamb (non-stress, STRESS) rather than an anapest, but the overall effect is anapestic. You are good at placing the stresses on important words or syllables, which is one of the skills of a master.

    A pleasure to read!

    Reply
  8. Pamela Ruggiero

    Wow Margaret, this is my first poem on this site and you’re already calling me. A master i have to be careful. My head doesn’t swell up.

    Thank you so much you’re a big confidence booster. I also noticed that you’re kind of in charge of the haiku contest. I only en
    tered one because I didn’t know you could enter three and I don’t expect to win but it’s fine anyway.

    One of the problems I’m having with the side as it’s a good thing Evan sent me the link to this poem because otherwise I don’t see the comments and the first poem I wrote I don’t know how to find it and whenever I don’t hear anything back But that’s my issue not yours

    Thank you so much again and yes, I knew it was not. Iambiv pentameter I wasn’t sure what it was called, but you told me now it’s more difficult to write this way than it is in iambic.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      To find your earlier poem, do this. Look below the HAIKU CONTEST banner at the top right of this page. You will see a blank gray rectangle with a symbol that looks like a magnifying glass. It is a search bar and has nothing to do with the haiku contest. Type your name into the blank gray space, then click on the magnifying glass. All your published poems on this site will come up.

      You may still enter two more haiku any time before September 15 when the contest closes. Check instructions for the exact closing time. The chance of winning is small, but there will also be runners up recognized as having written very good haiku.

      Reply
  9. Dan Ward

    This poem reminds me of when I lived in Arizona, and would take a night-time walk in the desert and watch the full moon come up over the mountains. Thank you for this poem, it’s one I will bookmark and read again.

    Reply
  10. Pamela Ruggiero

    Hi, Dan
    I used to live in the sonoran desert in a little town called Sierra Vista. It was 100 miles southwest of Tucson. I hope it was southwest but it could’ve been southeast. I’m pretty sure it was southwest.

    The mountains that separated us were the huachaca mountains

    We lived near the city of Nogales. There’s a Nogales on the US side of the border and Nogales on the Mexican side as well.

    When we moved there, the population was 3000 and now it’s maybe 50,000 or hundred thousand

    We used to go through a town called Bisbee on our way to church. Bisbee started out at 6000 and it’s still 6000.

    I lived there between the ages of five and eight years old

    I wonder if we were ever neighbors

    Thank you for the nice things you said about my poem. I appreciate that.

    Reply
    • Dan Ward

      I mostly lived in Tucson while I was in AZ, but I spent several years in Sonoita and Elgin (2002-2004) which are not too far from Sierra Vista. I could see the Huachucas from my place in Elgin. The mountains I was referring to were the Mustang Mountains which are not far from the Huachucas. You can actually see the iconic Mustang Mountains in the movies Tin Cup and The Quick and the Dead, possibly others. Very beautiful grassland at 5,000 ft elevation. The night sky was filled with stars and the silence was incredible. Hope it stays that way.

      Reply

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