it’s mid evening
east of The Lake
and the night is dawning
like a second morning

the Full Moon’s light
in a clearer sky
gleams through the generous panes
of this blessed, old green house

February’s Snow Moon is glowing
in a familiar dance with her beloved Earth//

Sun, their invisible chaperone, is voyeur to their touchless, perfect tango

a family of four deer
mother and children, i think/
are gleaners here tonight
while i consume their Moon play

silent and sitting in the dark, i admire:
coat, tallow, hooves and warm flow of blood
is all that’s between them
and this howling wind and frozen ground

let me mimic their resilience, integrity
i’ve been so weak, so broken this winter
a fractioned shadow, i am disintegrating, disappearing / my light given or grifted away

i’m up, at the windows again, captivated
a welcomed distraction from my night thoughts
the white Moon higher, brighter
the snow borrows Her Light / may i too, please?

I sight four stunning black silhouettes
recumbent, at rest in the meadow, so full of trust
on this borrowed, stolen land, have mercy

i am a settler / i have settled, in so many ways

absent of the trickster’s voice
in the fields, woods, or in my head, tonight only deer and Moon medicine exist
all this grace, all this trust, all this light

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