Did you wake up just before dawn to see the full moon, which was a blood moon, which was a worm moon?1
I didn’t manage to. I was midway through a dream that was working out the plot for a new film starring Joaquin Phoenix (who was also somehow Robert Downey Jr), Keira Knightly, and one other actor who, as is the way with dreams, disappeared from mind as soon as I woke up. I googled and it seems those three actors have never been in a film with each other before; now’s the time! I’ll be pitching to the big movie studios just as soon as I write you today’s post. Hmm, I’d have to work on my elevator pitch first. ‘They’re in a house on top of a hill on a remote island near … Scotland? They go to a bar. Then … a garden shed burns down. The End.’ Coming to a cinema near you soon.
In honour of the worm-moon-which-I-didn’t-see, here’s a poem I wrote about it. This is from back in January, when I was writing a poem a day to get some words out first go, without any editing.2 This poem is probably the silliest of the batch. It’s about how nice (and strange) it is to meet a new word/phrase and to have a go at using it. And it’s about the funny image of all the worms wriggling their way to take over the world;3 maybe that could be the plot I pitch for the film.
Poem-a-day, Tuesday 14 January Worm moon Today I learnt there is a worm moon. A worm moon. In March. In March it will be a worm moon The month of the worm moon. A worm moon The earth will thaw The worms will arrive Rise.
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Here’s the post I saw that prompted the poem: a list of the upcoming moons for the year, from my local ancient place, Butser Ancient Farm.
A moon that ‘reflects the thawing of the ground and emergence of worms from the earth and tree bark’ – Butser Ancient Farm’s blog post
Although you’ll see there is an editor’s note I added onto it afterwards, as I’m midway through sorting poems into different collections.
