Does The Moon Have A Mommy?

In the summer of 2020, my then 4 year-old son, Leo, and I were in the pool attempting to ward off the strange, sad shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and its isolating quarantine. Leo, looking up into the balmy Miami sky, saw the faint remaining shadow of last night’s moon. “Look Daddy! It’s the moon’s mommy!” Touched by the sweet thought of our closest celestial body having a maternal figure watching over them, I followed our pool outing by attempting to capture the idea in a short poem, exploring who the candidates for Mommy Moon might be. 

As the idea became more fully animate, I was moved by the possibility of what might be underlying Leo’s outburst: the idea that this comforting figure in the sky would need care himself, just like Leo, a young boy, does. I loved perusing the natural world for maternal figures, but even more touching was the idea that so many families were looking into the sky seeking connection during that moment and that by loving the moon and its gentle night’s glow, we were creating a kind of family, one that could care for the moon — and each other. 

Coming soon…