Drinking with the Man in the Moon
Music and lyric by Brenda Sinclair Sutton
©September 5, 2010
(This song was written at Aussicon4 and is dedicated to my dear friend Elise Matthesen whose lovely jewelry, generous spirit, and her ability to find the perfect name for her creations inspired it.)
My very first drink with the man in the moon I was seventeen.
Naively, I knocked back his shot and then begged him for more.
Wisely, he taught me to savor the taste,
The fire in my belly, to want without waste.
Nightly, he winked when I wantonly chose to ignore.
That second drink with the man in the moon I was thirty-two.
Life kicked me around, left my heart skinned and scabby and sore.
He nuzzled my cheek and said, “There, there my dear.
The truth I am pouring you won’t want to hear.
Scars never fade, but grow deeper when watered with woe.”
He waxes rounder, wanes, then disappears.
Soon, his crescent smile returns.
When I founder, drowning in my fears,
Moonlight shines on all I’ve learned.
The last time I drink with the man in the moon I’ll be eighty-three.
I’ll bring my own bottle of port wine and he’ll bring blue cheese.
I’ll thank him for everything, ask him to dance,
Kiss his cold face, play one game of chance.
If my mentor wins I will smile as I sink to my knees,
But if I win that wager, I’ll ask him whatever I please.
If ever you drink with the man in the moon, wish him well for me.