The woman watches at the gate,

And cradles close her little son,

“Look, Mum, he’s going to the Moon!”

“That’s right, he is, my little one.”

And did she think, as he drove off,

That this might be their last goodbye?

Perhaps she knew but did not say.

Her children would not see her cry.

The band played late into the night,

And with the last of drummer’s beat

Still echoing within his ears,

He climbed into the driver’s seat.

And on the road to Barringun,

When Moon should full, illuminate

The kangaroo beside the road –

Instead, tucked in behind a cloud,

And smiling still, watched down below,

The driver’s weary eyes perceive

A giant rearing, large and grey,

And sent his car into a swerve!

And off the road and down the side,

His heart pressed hard against the ‘wheel,

And measured heartbeats like the drums

That lay within the twisted steel.

The moon smiled at his own deceit,

The woman woke to emptiness,

The boy still stares upon the moon,

And wonders on it’s luminance.

Once thought a friend, it’s guiding light

To steer a traveler safely home,

The Moon betrayed us on this night,

And shines instead upon a tomb.

And two, in silent silouette

Sit framed upon his cratered face.

God’s mercy does outshine the Moon,

“Our father, who art in heaven….”