orange moon

mundane prairie winter
not much snow

and then through distant trees
the moon appears
like a slice of Christmas orange

it hangs horizon
like a brilliant orange bowl
floating the sky
holding all things fanciful and fantastic

for this is Manitoba in winter
sometimes you see northern lights
but this miraculous tangerine surprise?

I reach out and fingertip the soft lunar edges
my thin arms stretched through the dark December night
and hear the beating of my living heart