Earthshine Two

Earthshine, the phenomenon of the earth's light reflecting back to us from the dark patch of the moon, is an overlooked treasure of a powerful symbol.

Some refer to it as "the old moon in the new moon's arms." This image is so tender, so raw and unadorned, that I ache when I think of it.

Who, I wonder, is this pair? A child cradling the frail body of an ailing mother? A nymph wrapped around a wise but wizened paramour? A small child riding on his father's back, arms draped around his father's shoulders?

But perhaps it is not about age at all. Perhaps it is a wife greeting her husband upon his long-awaited return? Mismatched lovers imagining they are shielded by the night? A toddler stumbling around with an overstuffed teddy bear? A 20-something carrying a well-used chair into her very first apartment?

No matter the image, it conjures up excruciating intimacy, the deep comfort that comes from touching, encircling, embracing or the excitement of life when it is over-sized and new.

It is good we can only see this earthshine every once in a while. I am not sure I could bear the intensity more often than that.