Moon above Venus

In late February, there was a moon above Venus
And I began to see everything in pairs.
I crossed the beach and found that every shell
Had a match, there were gannet skulls and pieces
Of sea glass alike. And by the shore, two herons
Turned their slender necks to face me –

Who is the man with two shadows?
And the smiling dog with a second set of teeth.
I called out to them and heard a second voice
Not unlike my own. But it could only speak
In crashing waves, in the slow retreat of water.

Later, on the way back, my steps crossed another
Imprint in the sand, footsteps stretching elsewhere.
Suddenly two jet streams had appeared in the sky,
Slender scars crossing paths like mackerel clouds,
And there were fishbones on the beach.

In the evening they’d risen further still,
Bone clawed and wheeling like bats
when the air sinks into honey blue
And the mind is viscous. Willow pools of light
Move like planets, carrying dreams along
Moth flight and my face in a moonward sling,
Full of another’s features, hair heavied with sand.