Cancer

Moonwash

You should have been
a pair of ragged claws,
scuttling across the deep seas,
breathing in
ultramarine air, and being tugged
by the lodestone pull of the
looney Moon,
molting and altering under
strange spells of
its crescentric eccentricity.

When July erupts with lazy rains,
and the sea is interrupted
with salt-lick tides,
we'll catch you
by the wayward beach side,
dawdling in your tough shell and dreaming
of Nana's wasabi sauce and peach cobbler,
wishing you could be back home
for dinner.
Ah, sinner!
You could bury deeper,
sail farther away,
but your heart shall always be home,
fractured with emotion and longing,
like a ruined voodoo doll;
white tissues in voluminous heaps
golden tears down your cheeks.
Sometimes,
it's best to let you cry yourself to sleep,
wander about that star-field memory,
everything awash in blinding remembrance.
And maybe if you stare at the Moon long enough,
toes by the fire,
it would finally teach you--
the simplest secret of nature
in all its tie-dyed honesty:
"When the heart is at peace,
any place can be home."

Author's Note

I don't believe in astrology (since it is a pseudoscience), but I think that the characteristics associated with the signs are interesting and poetic. I started writing this compilation of poems for the twelve signs in 2021, the poems are supposed to capture the aesthetic of the sign without being too cliché.

Cancer is a water sign ruled by the moon. The people born under this sign are supposed to be sensitive, moody and dreamy. They are represented by the crab and just like the symbolic crab, they approach topics indirectly (think of the crab walk). They love the comfort of home, being extremely attached and loyal to their loved ones. They are also supposed to be the crybabies of the zodiac but enjoy humor a lot. I think of their moods as flickering channels on a black-and-white telly. One minute you're watching someone sobbing into a dainty handkerchief, the next minute it's a clown doing tricks on a unicycle.

Fun trivia: I'm a Cancerian too
The starting lines are of course from the poem The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S.Eliot "I should have been a pair of ragged claws/ Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” Eliot might be a Libran, but Prufrock certainly sounds like a Cancerian.

Reviews

[light and ashes]

I have pretty much only ever known male cancers, but I almost always really like them. They are half salty smart a*s and half sweetest person you will ever meet. We make really fast and good friends.
I don't know much about the female cancers, but I imagine they are mostly the same.
You my dear are a jewel..a treasure.
You seem to have a deep understanding of the souls of these astrology signs.

[Moonie]

Thank you so much!
I dont really believe in astrology, but all my friends are cancers and leos. I know this because all of our birthdays fall in july and august.
I also date a lot of October borns (scorpios and librans) so there's that lol.

I was really fascinated by astrology when i was young...read all the linda goodman books back in seventh grade, but now i dont believe in it too much.

[light and ashes]

I think there are a lot of different factors that make people who they are. Ex. Nature vs. Nurture and all that.... Astrology definitely seems to play a role, though, in my opinion.

[Sami Khalil]

Now, that is a way to be creative and explain all the signs of the Zodiac in poetic ways. Makes it all exciting and interesting. You have touched on all their characteristics in this sign.
Glad to see you still around...

[Sami Khalil]

"it's best to let you cry yourself to sleep,
wander about that star-field memory,
everything awash in blinding remembrance."

[Sami Khalil]

"Ah, sinner!
You could bury deeper,
sail farther away,
but your heart shall always be home,
fractured with emotion and longing,
like a ruined voodoo doll;"

[Esteban Morfín]

This is the third poem I read from you. I love them. Thank you very much for your work. Your poetry is refreshing. Now I feel like writing more poems.

[Moonie]

thank you so much for the review!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I feel like a small lobster among a sea of creatures scuttling right now to find some shelter...it is a lonely sea, and the moon is shedding tears at the moment as it looks down upon scarcity...long stretches of unpopulated space, wondering where those have gone to which it has often put its rays.
another beautifully imaged and constructed poem...you are a gem.
j.

[Moonie]

Ahh thank you soooo much!! I feel so overwhelmed!!
I am working on one poem for each zodiac sign (even though I don't believe in Astrology) and so far am done with 4/12 :)))

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Ah, the Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, one of my favorites by Eliot. Did you know he wrote the poem and it sat for five years (with minor editing) until his friend Ezra Pound insist he get it published? At least that's the story I heard in an expository writing class long ago. I enjoyed your offering to your astrology sign here in its entirety.

[Moonie]

It's one of my favourite poems too! I knew that Pound shaped "The Waste land" into the final product that we read, but never knew the story about Prufrock!
Thanks for reviewing! :))