Field of View - Poetry in Lunar Motion

Poetry in lunar motion Caroline Burrows spends a month making poetic observations of the Moon

- By Caroline Burrows. Photographs by Lydia Maltby

Аs a poet and a writer, I love the Moon and its associated vocabulary: words such as 'moonset', 'celestial' and lunation. But my mind struggles with its more scientific aspects: the Moon's haphazard schedule; it only being called a quarter when half of it is visible; and the geometry of its rotation. To better my understanding, I combined science with poetry, writing a verse each night for a lunar month titled 'Between New Moons'.

In the lengthening November nights, I'd check my Moon app and set out on late strolls up Bristol's urban hills in the direction of its azimuth, that's Moon-speak for bearing. I visualised it as a ship circumnavigating Earth, each night the planet having to rotate a bit extra to catch up. That explained why, from my fixed position, the Moon rose later each night.