Poetry, Photography, New Beginnings
Full Crow Moon
Scribe Writing Prompt — On the Road to Spring
Like ink, they gather on the branches. Smudges of spring. The Crow Moon rises tonight. Cacophany. A softening of earth. A yielding to worms and things rising through the dark loam of mycelium.
Like old men, they rasp and chatter and carry on with their complaints. But they know, those crows, that hearts so cold with winter’s chill will blossom with the softer rains, and breasts will redden and the moon will wane.
But, for now, she dangles, like one of those treasured baubles above the pines. And they gather, a burst of spattering gossip, a flap of wings like wet laundry on a line. Could they snatch it? That shiny trinket? That vision rising on a winter evening as it mellows into spring?
The “Crow Moon,” otherwise known as the “Worm Moon,” the “Goose Moon,” the “Eagle Moon,” the “Sugar Moon,” or the “Sore Eyes Moon,” rises before the equinox this year, making it the last full moon of winter.
Every full moon seems to have its own energy. And the “Crow Moon” bears a potency of heightening energy, of things to come. It marks the end of the hard, hungry days. It heralds the rising of sap, the bursting forth of beetle larvae, the brightening of bird breasts and the renewal of hope.
Winter’s grip upon the land is softening. Tiny nubs of crocuses and fuzzed nibs of hyacinth have breached the skin of the earth and the skeletal branches of the vine. This is the time to celebrate life in all of its glorious forms. It is the time for hearts to “twitterpate” and for dreams of new ventures to begin to take shape.
I can feel it quickening in me. Yesterday I watched the crows gather in the tree I see from my desk. They had already raided my “green bin” for twigs and have begun stripping new green shoots for nests. After the darkness of a painful year, watching their frenzy of activity brought great joy to my heart. Spring is nigh. Warm breezes are coming. I wish you all blessings of abundance for this fertile season.
Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).
You might also enjoy a couple more pieces about crows (I have a bit of a fascination with these clever birds):
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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.
Thank you to Thomas Gaudex for the Scribe Writing Prompt “On the Road to Spring.”