Winter Solstice Poem
Ian Thorpe
The sun's year - journey over
It falls towards its nadir,
In silent darkness a mother waits
For the birth of another year.
A new cycle beginning,
The old gods foreknow.
Deep - cold in earth seeds sleep
But feel the energy flow
While Tabernacle voices join
To proselytise hypocrisy,
Sing of betrayed salvations,
Hopes reborn in deceit,
For all the pious sermons
Only preserve the status - quo
And mysteries mask the meaning
Of myths nailed to a cross
The children are still hungry
The despairing still alone
Peacemakers work with guns and bombs
While the meek inherit pain
Days grow longer, warmer,
In the path of the eightfold - year
Timeless rhythms weave the colours
That joyful summer will wear.
From Beltane to Samhain
Seasons whirl in their dance
Timeless rhythms of the cosmos
Hypnotize and enchant.
And the old Gods raise their voices
As the cycle nears its end
Unless we acknowledge mistakes
It may not be born again.
So at this winter solstice,
Join hands and hearts in love,
Let temples remain dark, empty
and cold, look within for truth.
The world may be infected with more aggression than I had hoped, according to this note from an ex-pat friend:
all sorts of drama here in the hamlet, between my contadini neighbours, following arguments over my olive groves -- a knife was pulled and the carabinieri were called twice. Separately, my Italian hotelier neighbour punched the teenage son of a Swiss woman who is also a local resident -- so war has broken out here in Fallujah-in-Umbria. I may have to seek political asylum in the South Bronx.
Here's a paean to
pace in Toscana come this May:
To the Cuckoo
John Logan (1748-1788)
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year.
I'm starting to come to the end of the mourning period regarding the election. This website I just found,
http://www.contro-inaugurazione.it/eng/index.htm, really helped! Living well is the best revenge and I intend to do just that in the peace of the Val d'Orcia. I really hope all of my friends will come to visit once I get settled there. I've never been the best of hosts - sort of a "here's some clean linen, make yourself comfortable, help yourself to anything you like" type - and I like to think that if I'm relaxed and enjoying myself my guests will do likewise. Would that May were here and all the work that getting there entails were behind me!
