I had the traditional modesty of a girl-moon and was distressed at my full exposure in the heavens<\/p>\n
My full charms were there for all to see<\/p>\n
The darkness no longer protected me<\/p>\n
So I sought concealment behind a cloud<\/p>\n
I was bare in the vault of the heavens<\/p>\n
But the cloud I chose concealed the limbs of the goat-god<\/p>\n
I was ravaged and offered the price of an eclipse<\/p>\n
Which I took gratefully as I was soiled<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I lay under a white sheet on the night platform of a busy station<\/p>\n
The sheet partially covered my nakedness<\/p>\n
A crowd dressed in their winter furs had gathered around me<\/p>\n
A young boy lifted the sheet to look at my breasts<\/p>\n
He received a slap from his father and retired<\/p>\n
Another Tolstoy heroine I suppose<\/i><\/p>\n
Poor creature how very sad <\/i><\/p>\n
Do not cast doubts on her <\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
I wanted to shout at my spectators<\/p>\n
I am alive my name is LUNA <\/i><\/p>\n
But the words would not arrive<\/p>\n
A doctor revealed my face and felt for my pulse<\/p>\n
Did you say that this poor woman fell under that train?<\/i><\/p>\n
I did sir <\/i><\/p>\n
But her body has not been disturbed <\/i><\/p>\n
Here look there is not a mark on her <\/i><\/p>\n
The doctor pulled back the sheet and I closed my eyes<\/p>\n
What is the history of this poor woman?<\/i><\/p>\n
A priest stepped forward<\/p>\n
Please cover her and I will reveal my witness <\/i><\/p>\n
I was covered with the sheet again<\/p>\n
This woman did not fall under the train <\/i><\/p>\n
That is obvious <\/i><\/p>\n
She was riding on the train and alighted when it stopped <\/i><\/p>\n
Naked? <\/i><\/p>\n
Yes she was as naked as you can see her <\/i><\/p>\n
What did you do?<\/i><\/p>\n
I covered her with a laundry sheet <\/i><\/p>\n
And then? <\/i><\/p>\n
She fainted <\/i><\/p>\n
This woman is dead she is cold and I cannot find a pulse <\/i><\/p>\n
I am telling you that she stepped from the train and was very much alive <\/i><\/p>\n
Let that rest please remove her to your station masters office and I will call the authorities<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
As I was carried towards the office the moon broke free of the night clouds and lit up the railway station<\/p>\n
Its clocks stopped and began to melt<\/p>\n
Time was soft once more<\/p>\n
The platform was now empty<\/p>\n
I was no longer being carried<\/p>\n
Opposite the platform bathed in strong sunlight was PAN the great goat-god<\/p>\n
He was smoking a cigar and laughing at me<\/p>\n
Many cannot see you but I am watching your every move <\/i><\/p>\n
When the clock reaches nine night will be upon us<\/i><\/p>\n
I will share the luxury of your body as I did before <\/i><\/p>\n
The clocks have melted <\/i><\/p>\n
Time has stopped<\/i><\/p>\n
I looked at the railway station in its dereliction<\/p>\n
Windows were broken<\/p>\n
Posters peeled<\/p>\n
The railway lines were rusty<\/p>\n
They had not seen trains for many years<\/p>\n
Unashamed of my nakedness I stood up<\/p>\n
The goat-god smiled<\/p>\n
See you have a shadow now <\/i><\/p>\n
I looked at my shadow which was rigid against the decaying building<\/p>\n
Your shadow reflects your beauty <\/i><\/p>\n
Why do you hide yourself?<\/i><\/p>\n
I am modest <\/i><\/p>\n
Then surrender your modesty to your shadow <\/i><\/p>\n
I looked at my shadow again deep in the bright sunlight<\/p>\n
See how she covers her breasts <\/i><\/p>\n
She is far more modest than you <\/i><\/p>\n
As the goat-god finished his sentence the main chimney of the railway station fell with a thunderous crash onto the deserted railway tracks<\/p>\n
In the dust thousands of coloured dragonflies flew in gay abandonment<\/p>\n
We do not have long as you can see the bones of this once great station have become brittle its tissues have hardened <\/i><\/p>\n
Everything is becoming rigid <\/i><\/p>\n
If you remain here it will happen to you <\/i><\/p>\n
If that is your desire I will take my leave <\/i><\/p>\n
You cannot leave you are as trapped as I am <\/i><\/p>\n
I can leave when desired <\/i><\/p>\n
Then do so <\/i><\/p>\n
The goat-god lit another cigar and rubbed its predecessor into the dusts of time<\/p>\n
I tried to leave this station in my finest clothes but I returned naked and was presumed dead <\/i><\/p>\n
We cannot leave <\/i><\/p>\n
I looked at my shadow which appeared to be weeping<\/p>\n
Go go now my faithful friend the heavens will be the poorer without me but you will be an able replacement
\n<\/i><\/p>\n
Do not care about your modesty as I did and when clouds pass do not accept their hospitality otherwise you will return here<\/i><\/p>\n
You will rest during eclipses <\/i><\/p>\n
Do attend to your toilette during these phases <\/i><\/p>\n
And tell those who choose to listen the sad story of the girl-moon and her false modesty <\/i><\/p>\n
My shadow departed and I looked at the goat-god as he fought tears<\/p>\n
A dragonfly landed on his shoulder and it crumbled a little<\/p>\n
Soon others joined their companion and slowly the great goat-god crumbled to dust<\/p>\n
When night arrived shortly after nine I looked up into the heavens and saw my shadow moving brightly across the sky<\/p>\n
She was naked as I was but there was no modesty in her journey<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had the traditional modesty of a girl-moon and was distressed at my full exposure in the heavens My full charms were there for all to see The darkness no longer protected me So I sought concealment behind a cloud I was bare in the vault of the heavens But the cloud I chose concealed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}