Wax & Wane

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.

2023 Lunar Calendar

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.

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Live Your Poem has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Irene!