Land and sea kindle outside

the glass pane window, full moon

sweeps in her pregnant form, tugs


at the tide, casts far-reaching umbra

of the alder tree’s branch, the rusted bird- house,

the neighbor’s planked fence,


against the weather-worn southern wall

of the house. Inside, the aberration

of hum, the vibrational


glow of the Milky Way projects, spins

against the ceiling, the fixed North Star

blanketed in star dust, glow in the dark


plastic constellations orbit the space

from their fixed position. In the corner,

a galaxy hoodie drapes over a chair.


The daughter and her cat sleep soundly,

stellar storms and storylines cross valleys,

summit peaks in aimless dreams, write


horoscopes in the comet’s tail of slumber.

Here in the quiet hush, a syzygy of moon,

terra and child.

Kersten Christianson

Beyond Neptune


Kersten Christianson is a raven-watching, moon-gazing, high school English-teaching Alaskan. When not exploring the summer lands and dark winter of the Yukon Territory, she lives in Sitka, Alaska with her husband and photographer Bruce Christianson, and daughter Rie. She completed her MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry through the University of Alaska Anchorage (2016).