What the Moon Say

Moon, Photo by Moyan_Brenn, from Flickr

What the Moon Say

(From the roof of the then abandoned Olympia Mill)

I watched the moon from the roof of an old mill in the city.

Nightfall is near, time to disappear -

like the times and the people of this vacant scene.

The moon says, “I watched you when you were born,

I watched you live, and I will watch you when you die.”

The moon knows its course and it’s going to run it.


© 2001, Robbie Pruitt

This poem "What the Moon Say" is published as part of a collaborative work in the anthology "A Sense of the Midlands". This work was "Edited by Cynthia Boiter with poetry editor Ed Madden, A Sense of the Midlands anthologizes 33 Midlands area writers." (From the book's press release here)

Photo of the A Sense of the Midlands cover

and the launch invite from jaspercolumbia.net

I am excited to be a small part of this anthology, A Sense of the Midlands, and am very proud of the arts in my hometown, Columbia, South Carolina! The folks over at Muddy Ford Press and Jasper Magazine - The Word on Columbia Arts, are doing some great work promoting the arts and local artists in South Carolina!

My poem that is included in this work is What the Moon Say. This is an older poem, which I wrote from the rooftop of the old, and then abandoned, Olympia Mill back in 2001. I was bored one afternoon and was doing some “urban hiking,” when I found myself staring at a full moon in the evening hue from the roof of the old mill. The cityscape was before me and it was strikingly beautiful.

I thought about the moon that night and all that it has witnessed over the course of time and how it seemed to look down on the world with unspoken wisdom. Time sort of stood still and I thought, “This moon was here when we were born, it watches us live and it will be here when we die.” My next thought was getting off the roof of the mill before it was pitch-black dark.

Here is part of the press release and the invitation for the launch of A Sense of the Midlands:

The public is invited to celebrate the launch of A Sense of the Midlands on Saturday February 22nd from 5 – 7 pm at the Columbia Music Festival Association Art Space at 914 Pulaski Street in Columbia’s historic Vista. Admission is $15 which includes a copy of A Sense of the Midlands, admission to the reception from 5 – 6 during which authors will be available for signing, and admission to a reading from the book from 6 – 7. (Two attendees sharing a book will be admitted for $20.)

Read the entire press release for A Sense of the Midlands on Jasper Magazine’s website here.

Read about A Sense of the Midlands on Muddy Ford Press’s website here.

Buy your own copy of A Sense of the Midlands from Amazon.com here.