"The days are short,
The sun a spark,
Hung thin between
The dark and dark."
- John Updike
Ghost-grey the fall of night.
Ice-bound the lane,
Lone in the dying light
Flits he again;
Lurking where shadows steal.
Perched in his coat of blood,
Man’s homestead at his heel.
Death-still the wood.
Odd restless child; it's dark;
All wings are flown
But this one wizard’s - hark!
Stone clapped on stone!
Changeling and solitary.
Secret and sharp and small,
Flits he from tree to tree,
Calling on all.
- Walter De La Mere, The Robin
It is Yule, Montol, Brumalia, Lohri, Yalda, Koliada, Dongzhi, Midwinter's Day [whatever you choose to call it], the Winter Solstice - the longest night - today.
Good news, however - the days get longer from here on!
Roll on Spring...
Lovely Poem and painting.
ReplyDeleteThe Robins Midwinter song is a joy in a bleak landscape.
and with The Solstice the sun triumphs over the dark and Spring is slowly on it's way
Our Robin's certainly been singing his red breast off this morning! Jx
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