Celebrate -- Winter Solstice!

 

    Kokopelli an enduring symbol from the southwest, found carved, painted on stone cliffs and on ancient pottery for over a thousand years. The stories told about Kokopelli focus on this flute playing trickster god as bringer of fertility for women, crops, and animals. A joyful figure dancing and playing. His flute music the harbinger of spring. 

    From the Mideast the nativity scene. A celebration of the birth of a child at the winter solstice. Renewal on the darkest night of the year. In the Christian tradition the child is Christ. Even on the darkest starry night the light of life is renewed. The continuation of life a reminder of the creative energy being brought forth again and again. Each year.  

    I wrote a book length poem "The Waste Land Revisited" about humanities successful dysfunction leading to global warming. I worked for a year on the poem. The poem starts with April as the month of conception for the longest time felt that something was missing from it. Finally I added a postscript completed the yearly cycle by returning to fall and winter. Below are the last two parts to the poem.

Part X -- Near the End!

Ultimately to be

Is

To sit or stand

Or walk,

Quietly,

To let

The sky alone;

Vapor coalesces

Around unseen

Dust particles,

Attracts each other 

Into amorphous shapes;

Substantially

Insubstantial clouds,

Dark ones

Bring blessed

Rain;

The wind moves

Over earth's 

Undulating body,

Caressing 

The wasteland of 

Mountains, hills and plains,

Over cities

That need 

To breathe

In the fresh,

Exhale 

Exhausted

Combustion

Products; 

Nothing more

Or less exists

Than my own breath,

When I draw my last

A new born 

Will draw their first,

May they be blessed

With wisdom

Unlearned!

Part XI -- Postscript -- Rebirth

November's leaves,

Season photosynthesis

Complete,

Reveal,

Reds, golds, browns

Of autumn

Let go 

Branch twigs,

To flutter 

In

Wind driven flocks,

Down

To cover

Forest floor

Before snow and ice

Harden soil;

Trees,

Sink,

Into 

Patient

Slumber;

December's

Barren fields,

Stilled forests

Of stark bark

Send shivers

Through

The psyche

With questions

Of sentient

Viability;

In Mt Vernon Creek,

Brown trout 

Nose

Of necessity

Pointed 

Upstream

Hunker down,

Lower metabolism,

In deep pools,

Pray for enough

Food, 

Meanwhile

We humans 

Prepare

To celebrate

The life

Giving energy

That rises

Even in the 

Darkest hour

Of

Winter; 

Inspired by

Guttering lamps

That 

First cast shadows

On cavern walls,

Now festoons

Bushes,

Houses

With bright 

Colorful 

Electric lights,

To celebrate

A primal need,

The Christmas story;

When April's 

Planted seed

Squeezes

From the womb

To birth

A human being

In winter's

Darkest hour;

Swan Pond - Walking with Friends

   The best kind of gift.  I went for a winter walk with a friend her dog and two young children on the coldest day so far. On the way I gave the children wild cherry tree seeds to plant I had picked up and saved. Both children got cold about a mile into the walk. Mother picked up her son and began carrying him back to the car. I put out my gloved hand and her five year old daughter Simone put her pink mitten in mine. We walked together. I picked up an oak leaf and asked if she remembered from a previous walk what the pointed tips indicated. 

                                                        Simone said, "Red ... and I see White Oak too." And I pointed out the Mullein leaves in rosette by the trail. She remembered that they were normally soft though now frozen. A little further on she saw some more which she pointed out, "Those not frozen." I took my glove off stooped over to feel the leaf and confirm her observation. So we continued walking together alternately stopping to observe the sky and clouds or a triangular stalk of River Rush until got back to the car where her mother wrapped her up to stop the shivers as the car heater warmed. 
    

    Yes, the best kind of gift: Being present in the moment and sharing.

Grandson Sam's Art 

                Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, May Peace and Serenity Be Yours!   Tony

 

     Anthony G. Hendricks, author, poet, nature lover -- naturally;  Buddha Blues, just published with a great cover created by his Sister Judith; available at Amazon as print on demand or as an e book at Amazon or Kobo. With formatting help on cover and interior by Woven Red. Other books The Wasteland Revisited, a book length poem about the dystopia causing global warming; available as an e book at Amazon; A Journey In The Human Dilemma, collected poetry and prose; trade paper back only available through the author.