Baying At Two Moons Poem by John Beaton
Baying At Two Moons
The moon is full above Mount Inglismaldie
and mirrored on obsidian Two Jack Lake;
the nights are growing long, but no Vivaldi
concertos leap the seasons' firebreak—
there's silence. Now a lone coyote flows
along the bank then, head raised like a seal
balancing a moon-ball on her nose,
poises to unthroat a call. I feel
her loneliness—she's come so close to me,
it seems as though she may have lost a mate
and sensing me has sparked an urge to yowl
to any living thing for company,
but, even so, I don't anticipate
the utter woebegoneness of her howl.
It has three stanzas, each consisting of four five-beat (da-DA, or pentameter) lines, and, in sonnet tradition, a closing couplet.
The rhythm of the first line is: the MOON is FULL aBOVE mount INGlisMALdie.
The rhymes in the first two stanzas are abab. The first stanza begins softly with feminine (DA-da)_a-rhymes (Inglismaldie/Vivaldi- a reference to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" concertos) , but from then on, masculine rhymes (on stressed syllables, e.g. seal/feel) carry the narrative. The rhymes in the last stanza and couplet are of the form abcabc.
This poem has appeared in "Able Muse" and "Eyes On BC"and has been anthologized by Silver Bow Publishing.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/12/2024 9:59:48 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Dear poet Beaton, you have so touchingly inscribed the wildlife encounter when you were camping in the mountains of Alberta beside a calm lake that reflected the moon. I love the following lines.... her loneliness—she's come so close to me, it seems as though she may have lost a mate and sensing me has sparked an urge to yowl to any living thing for company, but, even so, I don't anticipate the utter woebegoneness of her howl. Thanks.10