MURRAY MOON
© Brenda Joy
Winner, 2016 ABPA Overall Written Victorian Championship and Silver Brumby Award, Corryong, Victoria.
As our planet casts its shadow on the white-gold lunar sphere
turning beam to rustic shimmer at this holy time of year,
so the Murray’s flowing waters glow with campfire’s orange light
as the reverie of humans infiltrates the Easter night.
While I sing my song of worship I can feel my heart attune
to the rhythm of the river and eclipse of rising moon,
for the wind weaves winsome whispers of the ghosts of ages past
and the weathered gums remember where the dreams of men were cast.
And as Moon’s meniscus mesmerises, slowly giving way
to a shield of total cover, all my heart must do is pray,
as I’m linked to Dreamtime legends of the black-skinned Man of old
who expressed in story language how the miracles unfold.
I can hear the rhythmic chanting lilt beside the Murray’s banks,
joining primal, tribal leaders in their rituals of thanks,
so I drift in awe-filled wonder under lumen lights of stars
in attune with potent resonance of ancient avatars.
Then I sense the cosmic energies that penetrated Earth
leading men of inner vision to the stable of ‘The Birth’,
till the Eucharist of sacrifice, endemic to our need,
is connected by the sharing to the symbols of each creed.
And I’m filled with faith and reverence like early pioneers
who, in harmony with Nature, weathered through survival years
with respect for cyclic seasons and with gratitude of heart
for the blessings of salvation and the sights of Heaven’s art.
Though the simple ways have vanished with the cities’ urban sprawl,
still the solar system spectacle casts spells to reach us all,
while, immersed in mystic magic, Murray murmurs on her course
as the Moon confirms the glory of Creation’s mighty force.
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