16. astronaut

Mary Oliver says that wonder has to be earned, and certainly it is earned through the full harvest moon, a trick of the atmosphere but I prefer to think of it as magic, hanging low and buttery in a velvet sky over this sleepy town, watching over us tiny creatures flying down streets littered with crackling brown leaves, hands stiff and slow-moving from the cold, eyes glittering from behind our wind-chapped faces—the moon, there for all of it, and still so intangible—I wish I could cup it in my palm, run my fingertip over its craggy landscape, pocket a smooth white stone as a keepsake and brush the moon dust onto the sides of my jeans. If I were an astronaut, I think I’d be far too distracted to do my job.

(Oct. 29)