Invention

Tonight the moon is a cracker,

with a bite out of it

floating in the night,

and in a week or so

according to the calendar

it will probably look

like a silver football,

and nine, maybe ten days ago

it reminded me of a thin bright claw.

But eventually --

by the end of the month,

I reckon --

it will waste away

to nothing,

nothing but stars in the sky,

and I will have a few nights

to myself,

a little time to rest my jittery pen.

by Billy Collins