<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">Summer of the Moon Landing </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><i class="">for Ina and Kiku</i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">A hundred of us dancing</i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">at the good buddies’ ball,</i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">but after lights-out, and</i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">at the first irritation,</i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">one is alone again…</i> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""></i></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>– Jacques Brel</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""><b class="">moon light</b></i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">i arrived at age twenty despite so many stuttered repetitions of carbon paper self </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">a whole summer <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> turning over a fresh leaf <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> of butcher paper </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">a new-to-me metropolis ocean and city splashing against each other <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">colored shipping containers stacked in a rubik’s cube rearranging the world </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">three little maids from school braided together like the French braiding </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">of each other’s hair</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""><b class="">half full</b></i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">arches flattened hiking in flats the elevator shaft hills walking for work </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">we could walk to mattresses on the basement floor kosher wine like bruised pears </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">peanut butter rationed onto co-op bread nori slap in the face at ocean’s edge </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: right; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 10px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""><b class="">moon dark</b></i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">a pending lottery <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> boys our age under glass the chance to enact their own </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">underage death scenes <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>hearts stretched around my skeleton made of glass </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""> humans landed on the moon <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> we watched through soot and ice </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">grown men hopscotching planting a flag <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> ina said <i class="">isn’t that just like </i> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">our country <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>go someplace new unspoiled immediately litter?</i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: right; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">moon with her tiny new flag tattoo a blank-faced marble bust of earth </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> a round powdered loaf <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>companions sharing this bread </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""></i></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""><b class="">half empty</b></i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">summer friendships like parenthetical expressions easily deleted <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">come august (come, the rest of my life) kiku stayed ina and i </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">and two flash-frozen salmon flew as far as chicago meaning to take one fish apiece </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">but they had frozen inseparable </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">twangs of woodstock radiating from the radio me stuffing my stuff </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">into semester-abroad-suitcase</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">decades later a yellow alley light another summer night metal staircase still volcanic </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">on our warming globe the same moon glides stutters through <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>her phases </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""></i></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""></i></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">encircled again breaking bread again alone again broken again</i></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class=""><br class=""></i></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal;" class="">- Phyllis Meshulam</span></span></div></div></body></html>