To my Moon

By Josephine Rudolf

The world only knows me when the sun is out,
A select few have seen a cloudy day.
But never night—I always hid that.

Hiding in dark corners, almost freezing to death.
Yet the second that corner was exposed,
Something came back to life.

It wasn’t me, but she looked the part,
Which used to be enough. 

When we first fell in love, you met the sun.
Eventually, rain trickled through.
I didn’t want you to see the night.

Yet you searched, and you found.
You stayed until my sun came out,
But you saw her for who she was: an imposter.

You begged her to leave,
Promised to love the night
As long as I was there.

So, she left, and for weeks there was no day.
The frozen burrow became our home,
Until, suddenly, it wasn’t cold anymore.
And there was light again.

Not a yellow light, like the sun was,
But bright moonshine that lit the whole room.
Tears fell, knowing I could never be the sun again.
You kissed me tenderly—I always preferred the moon.

Josephine Rudolf is a digital marketer and writer from Berlin, Germany. She has been featured in Volume 7 of “The Perch Magazine” and has been previously published by “The Drabble” and “50-Word Stories” among others. You can follow her coffee-filled adventures on Instagram and threads under @writingsbyjr