Moondog a'Leary...

There were a few clear nights around the last full moon and on these clear late autumn nights you can quite often see a faint rainbow-like circle around the moon, a moon halo. But it isn’t everyday that you get to see a moon dog, moon dogs are much rarer.

A moon dog is a brightish circular spot on a lunar halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal-plate-shaped ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds - those high wispy ones. Moon dogs appear to the left and right of the moon and the moonlight has to be really bright for it to happen. They don’t seem to have much colour because their light isn’t bright enough to activate the colour receptors in our eyes.

It really is quite a rarity to see one. Now I don’t know if it was the glare of the moon and it's dogs or the constant looking-up, but as I stood looking at the moon I began to come over all peculiar. Some people turn into wolves, others go all lunatic, and me… well, I had one of my Leary turns…

The Melody of the Moondog

Stood looking at the Moon stood he,
Stood looking at the Moon -
And on its surface he spied a thing,
All eyes and ears and golden ring,
With a feathery tail to make it sing
A’standing on the Moon
A’standing on the Moon.

And all around were buried bones,
Buried bones were all around.
And each a dinner for it to eat,
All white and fully removed of meat,
A veritable feast, a trouncing treat.
A’buried in the Moon,
A’buried in the Moon.

And through the skies the Mandilopes swam,
Swam Mandilopes through the skies.
With pyramid bodies of peacock blue,
Whilst flicking their tails as Mandilopes do,
And making an awful hullabulloa.
A’flying around the Moon,
A’ flying around the Moon.

Stood looking at the Moon stood he,
Stood looking at the Moon –
The creature began its tail to wag,
All causing the Moon to shake and jag,
The bones to move and the Mandilopes sag.
A’staring at the Moon
A’staring at the Moon.

Cried he, ‘What creature’s this, upon the Moon!
Pobble, Bong, or blue Baboon?
Making bones fall and Mandilopes swoon,
Whilst howling away with a forrible croon,
Like the Blog that dreams of the blue lagoon,
Or a man who’s been touched with a big buffoon,
Please stop before you make me swoon…
I beg in the name of the runcible spoon,
And swear by the blast of a sailor’s maroon,
And promise a gift of Arabian prune,
If you will only grant my boon…

Tell me your name,
Tell me your name,
Name you to me I plead.
Tell me your name,
Tell me your name,
Name you to me indeed.

And from high above the answer came.
A’drifting from the Moon.
Not Blog, or Bong, or Pobble,
Nor even the blue Baboon…
‘I am the Moondog’ was its reply,
‘The one, true Moondog, the only I,
The Moondog me, Moondog on high.
Here now, tomorrow and yesterday,
In timeless Moondog trinity,
I am the Moondog Almighty...’

‘I seeeeeeeeeeeeee…’ said the watcher with a silvery sigh.
‘I see.’ said he with a sigh.

Stood looking at the Moon stood he,
Stood looking at the Moon -
And on its surface he spied a thing,
All eyes and ears and golden ring,
With a feathery tail to make it sing
The Moondog on the Moon
The Moondog on the Moon.