diet of worms, pt 3

The Worm Moon

"What a state you're in,"
They say as a stray
Tear dribbles off my chin.
I say, "Pay it no mind."

"You have offended the gods,"
The Priestess says,
"You are banished from the temple
To wander beneath the Worm Moon."

Cast adrift in an eyeless desert,
I sit alone on a metal bench,
A cup of coffee and a cigarette,
Staring at the blank hills,
And they stare blankly,
Eyelessly back.

This is how it ends:
Not with a bang,
Or a clang,
Or a "hot dang,"
But with a faint hiss
As the air leaks out.

Nothing remains but a marionette;
A ridiculous figure as I trot
Across the empty parking lot,
Clutching a box of laxative
To lubricate the fading bones and skin.

(Photo: red compost worms)

As the temperature begins to warm and the 

ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts,

appear, heralding the return of the robins. The 

more northern tribes knew this Moon as the 

Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows 

signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust

Moon, because the snow cover becomes 

crusted from thawing by day and freezing at 

night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of 

'tapping maple trees, is another variation. To

the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten 

Moon, and was considered to be the last full 

Moon of winter.