Moonlight Cliche

There is a gorgeous, bright full moon out tonight, with Rabbit readily apparent in its face. Its crisp, white light illuminates the room more completely than the glare from the computer screen. It watches me shyly through the branches of my beloved persimmon tree. The moon captures our attention and our imaginations, representing huge hopes and dreams, far off yet ultimately attainable. How many romantic dramas of separated loved ones include the cliché of two people looking up at the same moon at the same time (the same stars, nebulae, pulsars or some such for science fiction fans), no matter the distance that separates them? Hundreds, probably; it’s not a new concept. Nonetheless, as he is on the opposite side of the globe, I cannot help but wonder if later, when the sun is burning brightly through my eyelids and the crows begin their incessant noise, the same cool moon will peer down at him from a clear night sky. I’d like to think that this will be so; the moon can be a continuity between us. Why not the sun? There is only one, and we both see it as well. I think perhaps the sun is too large, too all encompassing, too far away. The sun shines on everyone all day, and you cannot pretend even for a moment that it is yours alone. The moon is close, intimate, a denizen of the darkness, when we can allow ourselves the time to feel the ache of loneliness and the thrill of hope.