Final March of the Crescent Moon

Solemn pageant of nightly parade
pared to a facile show
Grand float anchoring the exhibit
a veiled, diminutive vessel levitated
over the dark boulevard
sliver of Waning Crescent moon
whose oil lamp half-corked
with pallid hue brims
tinged-yellow Parmesan rind
in last phase of aging cycle
ebullient, dimpled face
shrunk to wry, crooked smile
through its slender frame
the hull of a sunken chine
aft mast shorn
bridging the great divide
towed across the horizon
its globe whittled to an arc
outer points of magnetic compass
buried in the sun's shadow
perforated outline of distant arch
bereft of its counterpoint
providing little guidance
to the solitary drifter
plotting his course
a welcome beacon
only to the grifter, vixen
who gladly stow their deeds
in the dingy shadows
of its eclipsed lamp