“Salvation is a Black Moon:” a poem for December 30, 2024

Salvation is a Black Moon

I had never heard the name before

but I had held its promise

in my hands, while fear dripped

like thick, black ink

onto the crisp, white page,

like crows gathering,

calling.

Salvation is a black moon.

Just because I cannot see it

does not mean it is not there,

silent and still,

cloaked in darkness,

obscured for a moment from my eyes

which yearn for the more certain light 

of tomorrow’s sun.

Grace is a patient creature.

I celebrate the pitch black sky at night

that cradles infinite possibility 

in strong hands dusted with stars.

Stuart Higginbotham

The next black moon is December 30, 2024. A black moon is, in a way, the inverse of a blue moon. When a given month has two full moons, the second moon is known as a blue moon. When a given month has two new moons, the second is known as a black moon. 

Remember that new moons are not visible, per se, on Earth because the light from the sun shines on the side of the moon that we cannot see. Hence, new moons are ‘dark’ in the sky, although they are very much present.