“Full Moon names date back to Native Americans…The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon….Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian Villages.  Thus, the name for January’s full Moon.”

-2012 Farmers’ Almanac

Empty-bellied wolves

circle villages

howling their hunger

begging for blood.

 

Tonight I tried to stand still in the snow

but my feet kept running farther up the hill

hungry for the full moon.

My spirit howled when the first light

stretched over the mountains.

My body begged to be nourished

by the wholeness yet to be served.

 

And then it arrived

golden and ripe

against the dark plate.

I swallowed

feeling full

for the first time in days.

 

I hope the wolves were filled too

with strength to survive the winter

with hope

with delight.