Dave Harvey
FULL MOON SETTING
(Clam Beach Road, Any Workday Morning 1981-2002)

(Second place award in poetry)

Old round rambler!
You, Wanderer's Moon!
I drop down this short hill
                        to the freeway
                        headed for work—
            and see you.

            You hang above the ocean,
            nearing that ruler-straight
                        horizon,

briefly bounce a pale gleam
off the shoulder of a wave
            about to break—

put this old bike tramp
in mind of nights
I rode or walked by your light
            through mountains, across deserts 

saw your light glance
off rapids in the Klamath
off frost-sparkles in Mississippi,
off snowswatches in the Tetons—
felt my moonstruck juices rising
                        in the teenage hills of home—

and for one shining moment
indulge myself
remember   my wanderings.

I'm still on time for work.