Winter Solstice

The light returns!

I quit dreading November and December when I learned about winter solstice with its history, folklore, and stories. Instead I looked forward with anticipation to days getting longer, minute by minute. I began to appreciate those darker days for the opportunity to snuggle into the evenings with books and lamps and a fire.

So today is Solstice, and each day the light will linger a little longer from now until my birthday in June. I thought I'd share some photos I took at Stonehenge this past August. These were not taken at the stones themselves, but inside the incredible multimedia room in the museum. If I stood in one spot and turned slowly, I felt as if I was in the midst of the stones. People came and went, but occasionally I was alone in the room, and it was magical.

A poem I wrote several years ago seems fitting today:

Solstice

Smoke curls and swirls heavenward

through reaching branches,

naked white against a dying day.

Holly and ivy twine

through wisps of flame and stars.

An owl drifts tree to tree;

Coyote sings,

a song ancient as the mistletoe.

Spirits stir and listen.

This night, the mighty oak seizes the crown;

roots awaken.

The last line refers to the old story of the battle between the oak and the holly as to which would rule; holly wins the battle in June, oak wins in December.

For a real treat, listen to or read this interview with Susan Cooper, author of the best solstice poem I have ever read and which is coming out now as a picture book. Fascinating. I want this book, which I think adults will enjoy as much as children. Perhaps even more so.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.