Venus and The Crescent Moon

An area of high pressure
heralded the clearest starlit sky
that befell the northern hemisphere.
No news or talk of it; no questions why,
except among the experts and the poets.

I saw her there, shimmering,
a vision unexpectedly imbued,
converging, as she was, with crescent moon
with brightest light of vestal pulchritude,
she has no equal in any other sphere.

It was as if no one had heard;
as though her visit was only meant for me
like no one knew of her great revelation.
She peered at me, through branches of a tree;
enticingly, she twinkled wistfully.

Her intentions, abundantly clear
I fancied that she missed a former lover,
as Juno reined the angry monster in.
and left her alone, save one significant other,
who longed to cradle her affection.

But she had only eyes for me
and warmed my soul in coldest dark of night.
Lucky are those, who see the poetry,
who can describe the meaning of her light,
that burns the skin with ancient holy fire.

But we know why she’s here; in truth
to hear the yearnings of a lonely heart,
that craves salvation from another world,
wherein may lie a greater amity and art
that illuminates a world where no one starves.

I know that she’ll be gone too soon,
elsewhere, her love and beauty to disperse,
and leave us feeling empty, but knowing she will
return one day to this, our universe,
to feel her love embrace the crescent moon.

© 2012 John Anstie

First published on 27th March 2012

[With the high pressure that was lodged over Great Britain at the end of March 2012, and the clear skies we enjoyed as a result, this particular night revealed an astonishing view of Venus in conjunction with a new moon. It was an irresistible view, even through the branches of our trees, it was so bright. I just didn’t feel the cold of the late evening, when I took the photo, it was actually about 11:15pm. In previous weeks, Venus has been in conjunction with Jupiter, which I couldn’t see last night; hence the reference to Juno.

For those with an interest in photography, I took the photo with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 Prosumer SLR, zoom to the max at 400mm 1 sec at f6.3 Film speed ISO 200. The camera was tripod mounted, but I suspect some shake as evidenced by fact that Venus looks rather like a dove on the wing; an effect I rather like]