moonpath

Switch off the torch! There’s light enough

to see by, though the path is rough;

and, though the beam it throws is bright

it hides all else, and makes the night

seem darker than it is. So douse the light. 

The Milky Way is one long flow

across the sky’s deep indigo

and timid creatures, soft and slow,

pass by, with food their only care

- and we’re not on the bill of fare.

Here, take my hand! We’re nearly there.

Walking back to my boat from the neighbours under a gibbous moon, I remembered when I wrote this after a similar walk home with Boat Teenager long ago. There's rarely not enough light to see by, and when you're away from street lights and the moon is up, it can be rather wonderful; I once drove my old Moggy van across the top of the Mendips in snow under a full moon with the lights off, which was probably naughty but then there was no-one else around.