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
\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<\/em><\/p>\n Poor creature how very sad<\/em><\/p>\n Do not cast doubts on her \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I wanted to shout at my spectators<\/p>\n I am alive my name is LUNA 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?<\/em><\/p>\n I did sir But her body has not been disturbed Here look there is not a mark on her The doctor pulled back the sheet and I closed my eyes<\/p>\n What is the history of this poor woman?<\/em><\/p>\n A priest stepped forward<\/p>\n Please cover her and I will reveal my witness I was covered with the sheet again<\/p>\n This woman did not fall under the train That is obvious She was riding on the train and alighted when it stopped Naked? Yes she was as naked as you can see her<\/em><\/p>\n What did you do?<\/em><\/p>\n I covered her with a laundry sheet And then? She fainted This woman is dead she is cold and I cannot find a pulse I am telling you that she stepped from the train and was very much alive Let that rest please remove her to your station masters office and I will call the authorities<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/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 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 When the clock reaches nine night will be upon us<\/em><\/p>\n I will share the luxury of your body as I did before The clocks have melted Time has stopped<\/em><\/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<\/em><\/p>\n I looked at my shadow which was rigid against the decaying building<\/p>\n See even you shadow reflects your beauty Why do you hide yourself?<\/em><\/p>\n I am modest Then surrender your modesty to your shadow I looked at my shadow again deep in the bright sunlight<\/p>\n See how she covers her breasts She is far more modest and you 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 Everything is becoming rigid If you remain here it will happen to you If that is your desire I will take my leave You cannot leave<\/em><\/p>\n You are as trapped as I am I can leave when desired Then do so 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 We cannot leave 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 substitute Do not care about your modesty as I did and when clouds pass do not accept their hospitality otherwise you will return here<\/em><\/p>\n You will rest during eclipses Do attend to your toilette during these phases And tell those who choose to listen the sad story of the girl-moon and her false modesty<\/em><\/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","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":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8719"}],"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=8719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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