Manny Loley

Remembering a Crescent Moon

Tonight 
a crescent
moon
my grandmother
told me
when the moon
is a crescent
it cradles snow
it cradles sacred songs
it cradles ceremonies
like
the basket
of life
the moon holds these things
within 
hallowed darkness, 
the crescent moon
floats 
clouds obscure
the moon
everything is darkness again

Manny Loley is ‘Áshįįhi born for Tó Baazhní’ázhí; his maternal grandparents are the Tódích’íi’nii and his paternal grandparents are the Kinyaa’áanii. Loley is from Casamero Lake, New Mexico. He holds an M.F.A. in fiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts and he is a current Ph.D. candidate in English and literary arts at the University of Denver.