Full Like Moons

by LAURA ROCKHOLD

Some nights on a Pink Moon in April
or a Blue Moon in October, like tonight,
when Jupiter’s a diamond in the south
and Mars is low and red in the southeast
and closer to Earth than it will be
for fifteen years, we go outside in our pajamas
and lean on each other to look up.
We name the constellations we know,
like revisiting a past home.
I make a silent promise to learn more.
I am held by the sky
as I hold my daughter, bracing
us against the world’s tilt and spin.
Everything changing at an unstoppable rate,
except the stars etched in place.
A palpable stillness remains
tonight, as I sit by her bedside.
She holds my face in her hands.
She says, I can see myself in your eyes.