From ‘Fresh Start: A Shepherd’s Calendar’ – Rose Cook
FEBRUARY
Month of clear light Imbolc
Storm moon Snow moon hens begin to lay
Moon of the humpback whale, pelagic traveller in search of krill.
Midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox.
Brigid time of thresholds, her light foretells spring.
Lambs suckle themselves warm.
Rain soaks soil, beats at window panes.
Sleet patterns fields where furrows lie.
The birds begin to sing, trees swell their buds.
Catkins, daffodils, primroses in clumps.
Each day rises rinsed and clear, snowdrops glow whitely.
No sleep in the fretting hours, the birds hunch together in roosts.
Do they dream with eyes closed, drawing on some memory place?
‘Fresh Start: A Shepherd’s Calendar’ (pub Hen Run, Grey Hen Press 2021)
available £4 plus p&p from Rose at rosecook108@gmail.com
photo Rose Cook
Rose Cook 