Quiet Night Mistake

When what you thought was morning
Was the moon, you knew you were
In for further confusion

Through whatever hours remained
To you as short awareness
On the surface of the Earth.

The body you inhabit
Can’t but die an animal,
However it’s been estranged

By the spirits of culture
From an ordinary life
Under recognizable

Light. Li Bai woke to moon like
Snow, far from home, long ago.