AnnaMarie Laforest White
Stories, Poems, Art

A long time ago

before there were people

and very few animals, and really no trees

just a fox and lots of cows and grass,

there was the Sun and the Earth during the day

and the Moon and the Earth at night.

 

Now the Moon took her work very seriously -

if the Sun shone all day, then her job must be to shine all night -

so all night long she shone, full force -

she reflected the water of the ripply ponds  

and the crystals of the earth; 

she reflected the eyes of the fox

who was forever looking for his prey

 

she reflected them all back to themselves

so everyone knew who they were

but no one said thank you

to the moon.

 

Every morning, early,

when she reflected the morning dew

on the tips of the grass

and the noses of all the cows

she wondered who she was

and the cows said, “Mooo-ooo-oon!”

 

Every night the rippling water

and the crystals of the earth

and the fox

knew how they looked in the dark

and in the morning the cows looked up, always,

and waited for her question

“But who am I?”

And the cows said “Mooo-ooo-oon!”

 

Finally, after a thousand years

the cows grew tired of telling the moon,

and the moon grew tired of reflecting to others,

and something had to be done.

 

So the cows called for their queen

the one with the very big eyes,

and cow queen Hathor

in her best beads and with her very best purse

agreed to visit the moon

and tell her once and for all

 

The cow queen jumped as high as she could

and as high as she would

and told the moon

it would be okay

in fact it would be good for the Earth

if she turned away,

some of the time,

to reflect upon herself

 

The moon immediately turned her face

partly - then fully - then back again

and found she loved this ebb and flow

and carefully thanked the queen

and all the cows

who chimed one last grand hallo -

“Mooo-ooo-ooon!”

 

 

And now the night-times cycle through,

partly dark and  fully dark,

and now the people can arrive

and other animals who like to sleep -

and some became nocturnal

and some became prey

and now that there is rest and flow

the trees and deep lush forests can grow

and the ships from their wood

can rock on the tides

 

and the cows can get on

with chewing their cud…

 

which means they’re remembering their stories.