Leaving Our Legacy

 

 

 

The Hunger Moon, Marge Piercy

The small birds leave cuneiform
messages on the snow: I have
been here, I am hungry, I
must eat. Where I dropped
seeds they scrape down
to pine needles and frozen sand. 

Sometimes when snow flickers
past the windows, muffles trees
and bushes, buries the path,
the jays come knocking with their beaks
on my bedroom window:
to them I am made of seeds.

To the cats I am mother and lover,
lap and toy, cook and cleaner.
To the coyotes I am chaser and shouter.
To the crows, watcher, protector.
To the possums, the foxes, the skunks,
a shadow passing, a moment’s wind.

I was bad watchful mommy to one man.
To another I was forgiving sister
whose hand poured out honey and aloe;
to that woman I was a gale whose lashing
waves threatened her foundation; to this
one, an oak to her flowering vine. 

I have worn the faces, the masks
of hieroglyphs, gods and demons,
bat-faced ghosts, sibyls and thieves,
lover, loser, red rose and ragweed,
these are the tracks I have left
on the white crust of time.

Metaphors and Symbolism of the Snow Moon/Hunger Moon are many.  The colors of this moon are light blue to violet.  The flower is the primrose.  The stones to put on yourself or your altar are amethyst, jasper and rock crystal.  The tree of this moon is the cedar tree.  The animals, birds are otter, eagle and chickadee.  The work to be done during this time is all about forgiving self and redirecting future plans to meet this new forgiveness.

Let the rhythms of snow drifting quietly across the landscape be your rhythm.  Let the quiet, muted, sounds be your sounds.  It is a time of hunger in all realms of the Medicine Wheel:  physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual.  Draw close to family and friends and make do as best you can with fulfilling your own needs.  Let the prints you leave in the snow be soft.  Listen to the quiet.  Be frugal with yourself and with all things in your life.  The hunger is upon us and the wait for green grasses, for fresh foods, for newness leaves us wanting.  Hush!  Even the snow shrinks at this moon.  Find quiet time to write, to draw, to log your legacy.

©Carol Desjarlais 2.28.21

**painting **inspired by Next JENeration Art and Jenny Manno