River Moons
River Moons - meaning Summary
Double Moons as Memory
The poem recounts a remembered night in which two moons—one in the sky, one reflected in a river—become images the speaker carries mentally. It blends childlike wonder and recollection, treating the river as a long, slow question mark and the moons as small precious things kept in the head. The closing celestial details heighten a sense of quiet awe and the slow, time-filled making of landscape in memory.
Read Complete AnalysesTHE DOUBLE moon, one on the high back drop of the west, one on the curve of the river face, The sky moon of fire and the river moon of water, I am taking these home in a basket, hung on an elbow, such a teeny weeny elbow, in my head. I saw them last night, a cradle moon, two horns of a moon, such an early hopeful moon, such a child's moon for all young hearts to make a picture of. The river—I remember this like a picture— the river was the upper twist of a written question mark. I know now it takes many many years to write a river, a twist of water asking a question. And white stars moved when the moon moved, and one red star kept burning, and the Big Dipper was almost overhead.
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