Solstice

Summer light, intense and vital,

eagerly draws us out … come play, come dance.

Brilliance gives way to autumn.  Leaves from green to vibrant red and orange,

beyond real against that blue sky.

Crisp, clear light surprises us as it withdraws bit by bit,

whispering its subtle invitation … come inside, look inward.

Time turns until there’s little light.  Waking in the dark.

Gentle winter daylight yields to deep, long nights.

Ancient cultures endured the light’s waning,

little by little, less and less until that moment of held breath.

We breathe in and out, but what of that instant between?

Breathe in and pause.

In this moment, this Solstice, the sun also pauses in its journey

north to south, south to north.

Imagine our long-ago ancestors, knowing only that the light

had always returned.  Knowing only the stories, not the science.

Our thoughts venture through antiquity, rambling among stones

set in circles to honor this very moment. The ancient celebrants of time.

We stand together, immersed in the silence of our ancient past.

At this unique moment we share our experience of uncertainty, and hope.

In this quiet, we open to our inner wisdom.

In this pause, this Solstice, we are one.

Andrea Coates Vinson

December 2017