Latest from Book of Nature: “4 Shitty iPhone Pictures of the Moon”

it was a full moon in the summer wilderness
and the magic hadta be captured somehow
 
my arms and hands were too small, too far away
my vision and mind too impermanent, too unshare-able
 
but I did have my iPhone 6
so I pointed it to the sky and pressed the button

the photo was…
disappointing
 
the moon didn’t seem to have quite the same umph that appeared to my naked eye
you couldn’t really see the spots and craters
 
I mean, it didn’t really shine
it wasn’t even really round
 
“ick,” I went
and took another
 
somehow it had no moon, only the blackness of the sky
a picture inside my pocket woulda looked the same
 
I took another
it was just a little white blob
 
“is this me or the camera?!” I panicked
“it’s certainly not the moon’s fault”
 
I took another, aimed so steady, zoomed all the way
“arrghmoon!” I cried
 
but it was just a sorta larger white blob
“failure,” I said and gave up
 
later I looked at my 4 shitty iPhone pictures of the moon again
was there anything salvageable?
 
a light in the dark
all dark
a little light in the dark
more light in the dark

maybe I did capture the essence of the moon
enough

I shrugged
and did not delete
 

– April 2018, Boulder, CO

Previously appeared in Punch Drunk Press’s online moon series

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