The Light of the Moon
      — poem for Audre Lorde
By Gabriella M. Belfiglio

Imagining your lips—
my mouth forms words
that come like the leaves of autumn
dry falling and full of color

I have always been a spring person
a yellowgreen girl more day than night
skin not as dark as olives
nor as light as peaches

I have mourned the end of summer
like a lover gone—preparing my limbs
to be covered in cold neglect, the impending dark
feeling like a hole akin to a grave

But in your Earth an ancient spirit rises
your words come like rain
and I find myself drenched
sink my toes deep into wet reds and browns

In the growing twilight
I move forward a little taller
less with the anticipation of joy
more with a warrior’s stride of determination.

Gabriella M. Belfiglio first read the work of Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich as an undergraduate. After Rich’s death, she has been reabsorbed in both of their bodies of poetry. “The Light of the Moon” is a poem inspired by Lorde. Belfiglio’s work has appeared Lambda Literary Review, The Dream Catcher’s Song, Avanti Popolo, Folio, The Centrifugal Eye, The Potomac Review and the anthology Poetic Voices Without Borders, among other places. She works as an artist and teacher in New York City.