September 24: "The Four Moon Planet," Too Much of a Good Thing, Sunset

Is there ever too much of a good thing?

Living in the United States has been difficult these past eight years.  Ever since a certain man was elected President of the United States in 2016, it seems as though people have been given a free license to spew hate and more hate.  It's been difficult seeing friends and family drinking the Trump Kool-Aid and goose-stepping behind him.

Of course, hatred never goes gently into that good night.  It screams, bites, lies, argues, and screams some more.  And then it runs for President of the United States again.  Love, understanding, compassion, empathy, and beauty are as rare as albino deer or solar eclipses.

Billy Collins shares some beauty . . . 

The Four Moon Planet

by: Billy Collins

I have envied the four-moon planet.
-The Notebooks of Robert Frost


Maybe he was thinking of the song
“What a Little Moonlight Can do”
and became curious about
what a lot of moonlight might be capable of.

But wouldn’t this be too much of a good thing?
and what if you couldn’t tell them apart
and they always rose together
like pale quadruplets entering a living room?

Yes, there would be enough light
to read a book or write a letter at midnight,
and if you drank enough tequila
you might see eight of them roving brightly above.

But think of the two lovers on a beach,
his arm around her bare shoulder,
thrilled at how close they were feeling tonight
while he gazed at one moon and she another.

I want to focus on something beautiful tonight, because there's enough cruelty and hate in the world at the moment.

It is a picture from my drive home, the last remnants of sunlight slowly leeching out of the heavens.  Dark clouds were piled up above me, and, as I watched, the gold and orange faded from the sky like an old photograph.  But, for a few brilliant minutes, beauty was center stage, and I felt like everything is going to be alright.  

I asked at the beginning of this post if there can ever be too much of a good thing.  Too much hope.  Or too much love.  Or too many beautiful sunsets.  

Saint Marty's unequivocal answer to that question:  no.