Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides.
~Rita Mae Brown
Hi folks! Happy Poetry Friday!
Dear Irene asked for a moon poem to share during today's round-up. Wouldn't you know I shared a moon poem last Poetry Friday? How silly of me! I wrote one this week so I would have another for Irene. My poem was inspired by agricultural theories around the moon and the way people also have cycles, with times to get rid of hindrances, times to grow something new.
WAX & WANE
by Tabatha Yeatts
The Moon replenishes the Earth; when she approaches it, she fills all bodies, while, when she recedes, she empties them. ~Pliny the Elder
i.
In the waning of the Moon,
prune.
Pull down the branches
that tap your windows during storms
like ghosts,
clear out the dead ones
that hang over your head
and rattle like loose bones.
ii.
In the waxing of the Moon,
transplant.
Dig a hole
close to your heart
for seedlings.
Pat down the soil around
your twiggy babies.
iii.
In the dark of the Moon,
uproot weeds.
Wear a headlamp
so you can find them.
Be discerning.
Be ruthless.
iv.
In the light of the moon,
plant ground crops--
tomatoes.
Start now, replenished,
to cultivate these little
tides dammed by rosy skin
for piercing later,
after the moon has left you
bit by bit,
and you must draw upon
your own resources
to bloom what is barren.
*****************
Live Your Poem has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Irene!
12 comments:
Oooh, Tabatha, I like the way this poem works on several levels at once. I better look up tonight and see where the moon is, so I can follow what the phases suggests. Now I'm curious!
Your poem feels like an abridged version of the farmer's almanac! I love the directness of the first lines of each stanza.
Moon gardening! I love this, Tabatha. I am very interested in folk wisdom about gardening...and also really want to plant a night garden! Lovely. Thank you my dear! xo
There are things to do with help from that moon, advice from those who pay attention and things we must do on our own, standing up for action. Your poem shows us a way of living, and that we CAN ACT when needed! I love how you've chronicled the phases in this way, Tabatha, and love 'twiggy babies'!
Tabatha, this is so gorgeous! I'm used to coming here and finding you sharing other people's art and poetry. So wonderful to celebrate your own! Cycles...so very true. A slightly more distant perspective on my own cycles helps me not get too mired. xo
Oh, how I love this! Especially iii. Seems necessary now that summer's heat has well and truly found us to do the weeding in the dark. YES to "Be discerning. / Be ruthless." My only problem with that would be the visiting skunks. What would the moon have to say about them?
Love all this advice from the moon, Tabatha! Your poems sing!
Wow, Tabatha -so much to think about in your cycles of planting and pruning. I never thought about how the moon could guide me in my life. I need to sit with this idea of clearing out under a waning moon - and planting under a waxing moon. Your words resonate deeply. Thank you.
The wax, the wane, the dark, the light...your poem is a perfect primer on the phases of garden har-moon-y, Tabatha. :)
💙 your WAX & Wane poem, and how it closes with this soul searching message,
"and you must draw upon
your own resources
to bloom what is barren."
Thanks for this powerful shining poem-message from you and moon!
Loved reading your work this week, Tabatha! Prune, transplant, uproot, plant, replenish ... life advice that works on so many levels.❤️
Tabatha, I am sorry that I am late to your PF post. It has been a fun-filled weekend and now I get to enjoy a few more poems. Your poem is full of wonderful advice with the moon as the topic.
Post a Comment