What a gorgeous poem. I Love every image invoked and the emotions that are evoked here. So very powerful.

Finally a post that returns us to "Easters" Pagan roots.

What a fitting tribute to the delicacy and power of the moon this month. I read it over and over. -rated-

I agree with the other commenters. Beauty.
I'll go browse:`Drawing Down The Moon.
Margo Adler wrote a great pagan tribute.
I got a signed copy. Sip cough of coffee.
Moon was clear to see yesterday O rain.
Mind and hare become convinced:`Love.
Nature is great. A wild one. Great:`Wild.
Realization. Ya get yanked back:`O Beam.
Stricken with a truth that's hard to convey.
Then, Ya get accused of being a dull:`Wino.
Oho. Beauty.
I bet Ya wrote that with wine stained rags?
You got tipsy?
You made me.
I feel like tears.
A hard boiled egg.
Dipped in salt water.
I remember freedom.
Never cower to slavery.
I sense the Passover too.
Thanks for this. Hard boil.
I love hard boiled duck eggs.
It's okay to like deviled eggs.
Duck eggs are double yoked.
O Moons gets blamed. Oho.
Happy rainy day. Fire, Rain.
Water. Qi. Gracious. Beauty!

"A thousand, thousand pale stars slip through the web of my intent..."
I love that line. Beautiful poem.

wow! this is so rich, the images clear and resonant, the celebration poignant, delicious, resurrection is for pagans too

rated for celebration

Glad I was wandering OS today to find this jewel - thank you!

Blair -- thank you, thank you, thank you :)

Tijo -- It makes total sense to me that J.C.'s followers would hoist the Son onto the already rolling Resurrection-God bandwagon and celebrate his return from the dead at the post-Spring Equinox Moon (or thereabouts). What mystifies me is how so many of them can ignore the obvious and claim ownership of rites like feasting on lamb, wearing flower wreaths to the temple, loosing their children to hunt decorated ova (left by a magical rabbit in the dew wet morning grass) and gorging on sweet offerings iconically carved into the sacred sexually-explicit shapes of hares and eggs. (?)

Coyote -- I so enjoyed your post honoring the season as well! http://open.salon.com/blog/coyoteoldstyle/2009/04/12/there_are_many_like_it_but_this_easter_is_mine

Arthur -- when a poetic post receives a poem in return, ah! what a gift! what a blessing! Yes, I was tipsy that night standing in the falling full-moonlight, but beyond the silver draught I was drinking in, my intoxicating inspiration was the sacred 5-fold leaf. Thanks, also, for evoking Pesach! Mine is not a jealous Goddess; I delight in celebrating the lamb-shank, roasted egg, sweet charoses and bitter morror exodus feast -- the resurrection of a people from death-bondage to life-liberation is but another ancient paean to the magic of the season.

mamoore -- thanks for noting a line you especially liked; hearing its echo in your comment allows me to hear it anew, as if for the first time. :)

roy -- thank you, and yes! The essential, natural, pagan reality of resurrection was at the heart of that moment, for me.

Owl -- I'm so pleased your path led you here! I backtracked along it to find your site and also a bold and slightly eerie Spring verse which I recommend:
http://open.salon.com/blog/owl_says_who

oh, my, Risa. This is gorgeous writing. There are too many phrases that tug and spill to even begin to dissect.... whew.

As other have noted, I too, will return again and again to read and mull it's beauty.

Sooo happy I stopped in here tonight!

like-water -- so glad you stopped by! "Tug and spill" ... oooh, lovely turn of phrase. Thanks so much!

I like this. Also like finding another Risa here. Not to mention one that writes poems.

Another Risa! (and even spelled the same way!) So glad you found your way here. :)

Madame Zesty sent me. Speaking as a Crone, I LOVE this -- I am never sure what to say about poems, as poets are so good with descriptive words, and I get stuck on "beautiful" and "lovely" and "evocative." Reading this makes me feel all Earth Mother and joyful. I hang poems all over my kitchen -- this would fit nicely between the Mary Oliver and the Grace Paley...

Suzie -- glad my verses made your Earth Mother sing; your note makes me feel all Muse-blessed and Spring-inspired! I'm pleased and proud and deeply honored that you'd post my words in the heart of your house and in such illustrious company. :)

Risa, this is just beautiful. You have so many talents...not the least of which is making me choke up. :)

JK -- ah... another heart-to-heart. :)

Oh my gosh, where can we buy your book?

I can just imagine the artwork that would accompany the poem... Out of this world!

Follow the Feed. Yes.
Critical Mess. Yes. Smile,

Risa Aratyr. Yippee. Yes.

~ like~ water did write:`Lush, moody, and gorgeous. Yes. And Highly Recommended.' O, and ... like-water ... Maybe works at the local Wendy's?
Fish & Chips
~
I've never played rummy, nor drank too much rum, and who knows what the card game:`Canasta is? I no know how to play:` Black Jack or strip poker.
I no dance good.
Who knows what?
I say stupid stuffs?
~
I've never danced with an exotic dancer? huh? hush. I'm happy for Risa Aratyr. You are as beloved as like ~ water. And others too ... Yes.
~
Who cares if Ya never tasted the delicacy caviar? A agree. A poem can make one speechless. My gosh. Oh, I fold in a game if I know I knows ... I will lose.
You know what? No.
I love a simple game.
I like when the game-winner lays her card-hand atop her bosom. Smiles.
O, good night.
I ate potato, dried red bell peppers, and it was called goulash, or hash? I say:`Supper tasted yummy. Why bother You with trivia?

~'nettled between my fingers.'

That'd better than gripping a toy?
I mean:`No grip zaftig? huh. okay.
I'll rock in my rocking chair again.

Humph. Zaftig? My o my. Greats.
I Hope I No get thee squeeze toy?
I love to feel, breathe, and okay ~
snore, snooze, sing, hum, dream.

I sayin' ~ Glad you etc., are @ OS.

Really, truly stunning. "Drawing down the moon" is such an evocative phrase. I plan to carry it with me this week, tucked between my cheek and my gums so I can draw out its flavor whenever I need inspiration.

Omigosh! What a rush! People's Pick?? ME!?! I'm totally basking in the glow!

- THANK YOU, like-water, for your oh-so kind rec!

- MiddleAgedWoman, so glad you found me. Makes me happy to think my word-images resonated like art-images with you. Oh, and (warning: shameless plug alert) used copies of my out-of-print high Celtic fantasy, HUNTER OF THE LIGHT, are available for pennies from Amazon. Or wait a bit; as soon as I finish tweaking out the typos, I'll be putting HUNTER up on Googlebooks, soon to be followed (I hope) by SHADOW'S ROAD (same world, new tale).

- Arthur, your comments are the best read on OS. May the muse continue to inspire me, so I can continue to read your superbly inspired stream-of-consciousness response.

- First Awake, thank you so very much, and I'm glad you've made the words "Drawing Down the Moon" your own :) Ah, but credit where credit's due... in the timeless tradition of great writers I stole (well, freely borrowed) the phrase from the neo-pagan Celtic/Wiccan ritual lexicon. The practice of summoning-absorbing, and then experiencing-radiating lunar energy is the core rite of our full moon celebrations.