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
Jonathan Bluebird Montgomery 