Sacred Moon's Light

The poem, and the story behind the poem... and the song

The year was 2007, and it was during a time I look back on fondly as my ‘nocturnal poet’ era. I had built a relatively decent readership on MySpace through the site’s blog feature (you know, back before Google and Facebook and YouTube attempted to kill everything good and joyful about the Internet), and I was getting attention as a poetic wordsmith.

Well, that’s the way I remember it, anyhow; the truth may be slightly-less grandiose.

It was in that year when I submitted my second poem to the website for the overnight, nationally-syndicated radio show Coast To Coast AM [CtC]. Firmly in the hands of George Noory at that point, CtC took audience submissions for their website; paranormal photos, tales of that which goes ‘bump-in-the-night, and yes - the occasional poem or two, so being the work fit the overall nocturnal vibe.

The first poem of mine the site posted, “New World Order,” had lit up like fire; dropped in 2006, of all the things I have done online that is the closest I have come thus far to ‘going viral.’ As such, I felt pretty good about submitting a second poem the following year, called “Sacred Moon’s Light.”

We’ll discuss the results in a moment; for now, however, enjoy the work…

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Sacred Moon’s Light

Full moon ascending...
horizon’s dark spice,
spring breeze is stirring
and shifting the blinds.
The motion of airflow…
dances ‘cross skin,
rekindles a fire
that once lived within.
As dusk blurs to nightfall…
in a stark raven’s sky,
redemption’s discovered…
with the sacred moon’s light.

A candle is burning…
incense adrift,
an azure flame dancing
by the wind’s subtle shift.
A life of confusion…
of doubt and of pain,
begins to dissolve
on the nocturnal plane.
The depth of the moment…
is captured in flight,
an owl’s pass is shadowed…
by the sacred moon’s light.

The essence of silver…
alight with its spark,
feeling renewal
in the wisp of the dark.
The air moves with purpose…
alive yet unseen,
driving out demons
by the force of Between.
A night-hawk perched proudly…
silhouette in the night,
the royalty of freedom…
in the sacred moon’s light.

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While it did not ‘take off’ as the previous work had, it still went a few places. In fact, it caught the attention of the head of a progressive rock band out of Texas, a man by the name of Lynn Stokes. He emailed me, expressed admiration for the work, and asked if he could turn it into a song. I said sure, go ahead… and then promptly forgot about it.

See, back in those days I had several requests to turn my poems into songs, and… well, it seldom ended well. There were variety of outcomes, from never hearing back to flat-out rotten renditions, so I had zero expectations about this Stokes cat. If it came about, great; if it was good, even better… and if not? Oh, well.

So imagine my surprise when, a few months later, I actually DID hear back from this band leader, with an MP3 attached. So I downloaded it, mashed ‘play’… and was stunned by the result.

Those were my words, and they were set to music that was… well, good. He actually captured the overall vibe I was trying to set in the original poem… and he did so well.

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The song eventually received praise from many in the prog-rock scene; it was even honored by the Progressive Rock Hall of Fame (who knew such a thing even existed?). Since the musical style-in-question was hardly the ‘thing’ in the early 21st century, however, the song generated zero income (have never received a single royalty check) and has largely become no more than a memory.

A memory I still appreciate, however, at least from time to time. With that noted, I am still irritated that a couple of the words were changed; while I understand artistic flourishes, I really thought it was an unnecessary change.

Yes, I admit it is petty of me, and yes, I have no justifiable reason for said-irritation, but we poets can be protective - and childishly so - about our words. Nevertheless, it is a song (and a song I actually enjoy), thus I can say - for just one moment in my life - that I was a ‘songwriter’… if only lyrically-speaking.

And that is the story behind a song you undoubtedly did not know existed. Self-serving on my part, I know, but I hope at least you were able to enjoy the poetry… and are able to enjoy the tunage.

Speaking of? Here it is, performed by the aforementioned Lynn Stokes…

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-- Note: Unless otherwise credited, all images were generated using Substack’s AI tool.