PALMA LUNA

From the terrace of this hotel on a hill,

We see it appear behind the cathedral

Like some new crimson planet:

The Blood Moon.

Over the tall white masts of the rich

In the bay, late bathers on the beach

And Lycra-bikers riding home,

Fading soon

To pink, then gold, then ordinary silver

As the firework foliage blackens over

And the green mountains darken,

A full moon

Robed in rags and ribbons of cloudy grey,

Rises as night again recaptures the day,

Leaving the last traces of a Blood

Moon now gone.

(2015)

We were having a drink one evening in the bar of our hotel, where we were on holiday in Palma, Majorca, when we gradually became aware of a man taking pictures at a doorway. Looking out from the window, we suddenly became aware of this huge, red moon rising over the harbour. I took the picture above on Lisa's camera, but by the time I'd raced up in the lift to our room to collect my own camera, the moon had lost much of its colour. Such moons are comparatively rare and a few months later I missed another on a clear night back home in Leicester. Oh, well...