Friday, December 19, 2008

Winter Solstice '09


waxing within the waning




how much are we seasonally affected?

as night lengthens--
as cold deepens--
as clouds come in and just hold--
so much comes due to be done:

our classes at school near a finish line,
though it’s more a lap in a relay
as we will pass the batons off to our January selves,

we’ll have a week or two
for the fallow and hallow of holiday,
and all the subsequent recombining with family and friends,
Sun & Earth will pause and bow to each other
before the Sun starts to lead again,

we will also celebrate the birth of that Son
who calls us to release the light of God within
to witness a true path toward
framed by the darkness of the common path away,

there is a weight upon my psyche--
springs that strongly feel both wound too tight to release smoothly
and released too much to power anything still,
it’s like right before sleep
when it feels too much to hold a thought,
let alone to connect one to the other,
I feel on edge,
ready to slip into tear when I but touch intensity,
ready to slip into laugh at any excuse,

and when I feel upcoming release--
eating what I want,
just being with my grandchildren,
I feel undeserving of such self-indulgence,

how difficult it is to be a caregiver
who also knows how to give care back to self,

as December wanes we need to wax
and celebrate the light within
that will grow more and more to shine without.

by Henry Walker
December 17, ‘08

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