When the Moon Knows You`re Wandering

Poetry. African American Studies. Winner of the 2001 Green Rose Prize. WHEN THE MOON KNOWS YOU'RE WANDERING turns on the theme of lost and found paths, of being perpetually lost and then found. But even more than lost, driven to abandon the paths of one's past. The moon in the title poem serves as landmark, tool of navigation, and silent witness. The speaker, distracted by the world, wanders, spiritually and physically, searching for some anchor that will return her to a significant sense of "home." She becomes a migrant of sorts, finding her way by what is common to all of us: landscape, song, and memory. Resolution for the speaker comes not in the journey but in the return to the simple articles of a life, the things we call home.