Moon, Did You Get Fat With the Stars?

Nights ago you seemed slimmer;
a slender thread of shimmering silver.
Now you are round, rotund.

Did you get fat with the stars?

There seemed to be more of them before.
Were you snacking while the sun was up?
If I didn’t know they were balls of gas
I would assume they were chocolate covered in gold foil
like those coins I used to get at Christmas.
They would certainly help you
pack on the pounds.
I don’t know the calorie count of gas
but I’ve seen what it does to balloons.
Are you simply inflated?
If I breathed you in would my voice alter in pitch,
getting higher in an attempt to match your altitude?

Now that you are obese,
I wonder which Western civilisation
you will become a citizen of.
Your blood pressure has probably risen,
like the tide,
and you will now be susceptible to diabetes
and other diseases.
Sadly, you are more likely
to grow fatter than lose what you’ve put on.
The bad habits you’ve developed
are now a part of your daily cycle
and will die hard.
Not like you,
you will die easily
but not necessarily
pain free.


Ron Barton (Western Australia)

First published in Tincture Journal