PAPER LANTERNS

I almost didn’t notice

the paper lanterns,

glowing like deep sea creatures

at bottom of the canyon.

Too, I almost missed the sound

of children playing,

while parents sipped wine,

glasses chiming

in the still-hot evening breeze.

My gaze steadied

on the perfect half moon,

her shadow side visible,

as the earth

kindly reflected back

her lunar glory.

And the purple sky

melted into the ocean,

pitching the dark into night.

(c) Amanda Smith July 2011

(This was my first poem ever published. I wrote it while looking at the pacific ocean on a perfect summer night a few days before my life truly began, although at that point I didn’t know it hadn’t.)