Refraction – a poem by Diane Elayne Dees

Refraction


It is early evening, yet the moon,
a half-sliver shy of its full glory,
rests above a billowing streak of melon
on a muted purple canvas of sky.
Only an hour before, the sky was deep indigo,
and the burnished gold of autumn
leaves, mirrored on the water’s surface,
made me wonder how Monet 
might have captured the moment.
I consider my retinas, the millions 
of cones thriving outside of my awareness,
firing messages to my occipital lobe,
merging my eyes, brain, and heart
in a unity that transcends science.
I study these complexities, 
approach them with curiosity.
But I am not a scientist,
and I will never fully understand.
It is enough, however, to know
that I can walk under an indigo sky,
see myself in a shimmering mirror 
of liquid gold, and satisfy my hunger
with a generous slice of melon moon.

Diane Elayne Dees is the author of the chapbook, Coronary Truth (Kelsay Books), and the forthcoming chapbook, The Last Time I Saw You. Diane, who lives in Covington, Louisiana, also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that delivers news and commentary on women’s professional tennis throughout the world.