“The Burning Moon” is one of two haunting yet beautiful poems by Jasper Lo featured in our Spring 2015 issue.

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LAST NIGHT, I DREAMT
the blue moon
caught fire. Its marble

craters formed
Greek columns as fire consumed
each pillar, pulling its Ionic scrolls

into the dark carpet sky.
As it burned,
I lay pushing against the ground,

watching a patrol breathe fog
into their chemical masks.
I flipped down my night vision goggle

and watched quietly as my squad pulled
me closer to our exit; my hip sliding
and my legs shimmying

towards the entrance
of a tunnel.
The moon breathed, burning

more violently, sobbing
combustion. Touching
the door, I turned to see a figure

hoisted in a carry, illuminated
by the patrol’s lights. Then I sprinted
arriving at the stairway’s

secluded base where my body
weight became unbearable
and my stomach dived.

Last night, I dreamt
the cheesy blue moon immolated-
and I watched it burn.

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JASPER LO is a Chinese-American twenty-something US Army veteran. He is recovering from the trauma of being raised Chinese in New York and is a graduate of Boston University.