Winter Solstice 2021

in Poetry

This cold solstice night my altar’s prepared
with evergreen boughs, offerings, candles, & prayers.
Honoring Nature while anchored in lore’s ancient rites;
hoping Spring’s warmth will follow these cold barren nights.

This year more than most our future’s hard to discern;
like for ancients who knew not whether life would return.

Our planet’s endangered; mankind is cleaved
by belief systems driven all too often by greed.
Sadly those who scream faith oft are driven by fear,
while those of true spirit open-heartedly cohere.

The future for humankind’s uncertain at best;
imperiled by zealots led by fools’ behests.
So our choices seem clear: to persevere or cede
in pursuit of a world that reveres Gaia, not Greed.

Mid this turmoil, as night falls, for guidance I plead
that a path to sustain life & love may succeed.
And in dreaming I yearn to find solace and rest
for my heart: weary, grief-riven, stunned & oppressed
from the battles that ceaselessly wage ‘cross our globe
over science and masks; warming trends and microbes.

Once abed on this year’s longest night of deep pitch,
I drift between worlds: mundane & eldritch.
The veils this night thinly disjoin these planes
and spirits flit ‘tween them on mist-wings arcane.

While slumbering I steep in serenity & hope
finding respite; cells transmuting to a halcyon allotrope.
On this mystical sojourn my focus is clear:
replenishment, girding to wage peace and soothe fear.

In dreams I transform, by spirit guides drawn;
an amalgam of dragon & angel I spawn
and inhabit this form: fierce, eternal, and kind
both to heaven & earth can this form align.

By these visions and magic: nourished, I rise
knowing my heart’s core is this dragon/angel meld
that endures all, with strength: calm, focused & wise
in the face of all hurdles; a Nature-champion compelled.

As the dawn-ribbons burgeon: crimson, coral, and rose
undulations so beauteous bring deep soul-repose
through a promise that day-lengths will likewise expand
bringing warmth, health, and sustenance back to our lands.

So I pray, this long night, and as day-break blooms bright
for strength, calm, and focus to sustain this peace-fight;
that our species of humans will survive these ordeals
and balance restore, stable futures reveal.

May we each find a path with heart and spirit aligned
that sustains this dear Earth, all her species, and mankind;
that spreads peace, joy, and hope to each person we greet
so our dharma wheel’s journey with love is replete.