XVIII: The Moon
(Rider Waite Tarot)

© 2023 Marie V Lecrivain


Here’s another dream
where you're encased in armor
that’s ornate and fussy.
You wonder how you
acquired it, or why you need it,
but the answer becomes apparent
as you emerge from the water,
and see two canine cousins
howl at the moon,
drunk on its phantom nectar.

You hope they won’t spot you
and decide you're dinner,
then you remember,
in this recurring dream

you've been the dog,
who wags his tail
in excited distress,

you've been the coyote,
who howls to awaken
the urge within the dog
to shed its domestic narrative,

you've been the moon
pie-faced and indifferent,

and you've been
the scorpion
ready to strike.

What you long to be
is the road,
experienced and open,
with no secrets
except for where
you're supposed to go.


* * * * *

Marie C Lecrivain is a poet, publisher, and ordained priestess in the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the ecclesiastical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis. She currently curates two literary blogs: Dashboard Horus: A Bird’s Eye of the Universe (travel themed poetry and art), and Al-Khemia Poetica: Women’s Art and Literary Journal. Her work has been published in California Quarterly, Chiron Review, Gargoyle, Nonbinary Review, Orbis, Pirene's Fountain, and many other journals. She's the author of several books of poetry and fiction, and editor of Ashes to Stardust: A David Bowie Tribute Anthology © 2023 Sybaritic Press, www.sybpress.com).