Shape-Shifter Moon, 2023
In early November
the Beaver Moon reminds us:
to stack the wood and stock the freezer,
to mend the thick down quilt,
to patch the roof and clean the chimney
before the Cold Moon arrives.
And then, in late November,
when the Beaver Moon is full,
we watch her as she shreds her bark
and gnaws at slices of light
night after night until,
longing for her cozy lair,
wrapped in her blackest cloak,
she retreats to her New Moon lodge (December 12).
In her den the Shape-Shifter Moon
of our winter hours
yawns and stretches,
paints and sketches,
chooses frost from her closet of colors,
then opens the door just enough
so a sliver of silver slides into view
and we see a young moon's slender curve
as she skates out onto the First Quarter
of her icy sky-rink (December 19).
Growing daily in her beauty,
the Cold Moon of December
adds layers of light to the path
toward the Longest Night
of the Winter Solstice (December 21)
and sends prayers for peace
around the Earth
on the day of her fullness
(December 26).
Janet N. Gold lives in Camden