The Winter Solstice Sun

[Joe Mc]

One I wrote on this forum 2012, is it the same solstice ? Is it the same poem, am I the same man ? HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE ! a little tune I ran across this morning Beautiful ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLX0_U9JZCA



Rise again Winter Sun,
Rise again and Blind me.
Make me one, and make new
Again with you.
Show me the way to go,
Brighten my days, my path
winding through the life
I live.
Blind the sadness from my life
And the heartaches from my mind.
Blind me with the Warmth of your
Rays over the naked trees,
Stop me in my tracks.
The wandering lament of normality
That many assign themselves to,
Have Mercy and break asunder
Prisons and graves
Hardships and Pain...
Burn it up in your light
Take the bird to flight
And take me to your breast
Open your warm arms wide
Stop me on the lonely road
And sing to me
Sing one song till the end
of time, Sing songs like
the sparkling lights on water
Sing songs as a mother to
the infant mild,
Emblazon the the dying days
of Winter with Hope
Forever

[Ariaecheflame]

I'm Loving the poetic vision for the solstice beautiful.

I connect with Solstice more so then I do to the idea of a Christmas with Santa melting on the pavement lol so your poem is a real treat for me, a solstice gift.
Solstice 2012... Geez, that was a big one. I like to pretend that I've changed so much then I read an old poem and realise I'm still the same person. It's all good, kind of nice in a way to be the same person, easier to find when I get lost haha.

[Joe Mc]

Thank you for your kind comment :) Yes I've always tried to acknowledge the winter solstice in some way but as you say 2012 was a biggie and I took myself to a place called Newgrange, here in Ireland, that year and celebrated at an all night concert and then a procession to the ancient tomb itself. Also that was the year of the big shift ? A shift in world consciousness and awakening lol, think im still waiting lolol.

The Christmas thing has a few redeeming features mostly to do with music and birth of course but it becomes muddy fairly easily and unfortunately its a very dark time of the year for many suffering from mental health issues etc. I'm not anti Christian in any way shape or form but its also worth remembering the pure over lay if you like of one story, christianity, onto another, earth based spiritual stories.

You mentioned using an old poem to realise that the poet/poetess has remained the same person in a way lol...it reminded me that one of the greatest gifts ive enjoyed is looking back sometimes at old poems of mine..i mean its not that i think they are any good lol...but its an amazing feeling...i once came across a poem of mine on fb i think it was ...id forgotten it was mine and i thought ..man id love to be able to write like that ..hahahahaha...so i had to admit some kind of self worth as much as it hurt lol....thanks for the stimulating reply ..and have a safe and happy Christmas. :)

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Ariaecheflame

I'm Loving the poetic vision for the solstice beautiful.

I connect with Solstice more so then I do to the idea of a Christmas with Santa melting on the pavement lol so your poem is a real treat for me, a solstice gift.
Solstice 2012... Geez, that was a big one. I like to pretend that I've changed so much then I read an old poem and realise I'm still the same person. It's all good, kind of nice in a way to be the same person, easier to find when I get lost haha.

I also meant to include this poem for your perusal or not in my last post. Its by Patrick Kavanagh. It touches on the subject of innocent knowledge and worldly knowledge. Kavanagh was a Catholic transcendentalist I believe. Ok. Thanks.

Advent

We have tested and tasted too much, lover-
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
But here in the Advent-darkened room
Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea
Of penance will charm back the luxury
Of a child's soul, we'll return to Doom
The knowledge we stole but could not use.

And the newness that was in every stale thing
When we looked at it as children: the spirit-shocking
Wonder in a black slanting Ulster hill
Or the prophetic astonishment in the tedious talking
Of an old fool will awake for us and bring
You and me to the yard gate to watch the whins
And the bog-holes, cart-tracks, old stables where Time begins.

O after Christmas we'll have no need to go searching
For the difference that sets an old phrase burning-
We'll hear it in the whispered argument of a churning
Or in the streets where the village boys are lurching.
And we'll hear it among decent men too
Who barrow dung in gardens under trees,
Wherever life pours ordinary plenty.
Won't we be rich, my love and I, and
God we shall not ask for reason's payment,
The why of heart-breaking strangeness in dreeping hedges
Nor analyse God's breath in common statement.
We have thrown into the dust-bin the clay-minted wages
Of pleasure, knowledge and the conscious hour-
And Christ comes with a January flower.

[Ariaecheflame]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

Thank you for your kind comment :) Yes I've always tried to acknowledge the winter solstice in some way but as you say 2012 was a biggie and I took myself to a place called Newgrange, here in Ireland, that year and celebrated at an all night concert and then a procession to the ancient tomb itself. Also that was the year of the big shift ? A shift in world consciousness and awakening lol, think im still waiting lolol.

The Christmas thing has a few redeeming features mostly to do with music and birth of course but it becomes muddy fairly easily and unfortunately its a very dark time of the year for many suffering from mental health issues etc. I'm not anti Christian in any way shape or form but its also worth remembering the pure over lay if you like of one story, christianity, onto another, earth based spiritual stories.

You mentioned using an old poem to realise that the poet/poetess has remained the same person in a way lol...it reminded me that one of the greatest gifts ive enjoyed is looking back sometimes at old poems of mine..i mean its not that i think they are any good lol...but its an amazing feeling...i once came across a poem of mine on fb i think it was ...id forgotten it was mine and i thought ..man id love to be able to write like that ..hahahahaha...so i had to admit some kind of self worth as much as it hurt lol....thanks for the stimulating reply ..and have a safe and happy Christmas. :)

Thank you for the interesting and engaging reply!
Your solstice trip to Newgrange sounds quite amazing.

I like your take on the Christmas and Solstice. The parts of Christmas which I like the most are the experiences of pure joy, after all the celebrations and gift unwrapping are done and when people here start to peel off to the beach without a care or worry and return back to the pure experienced of living. Playing in the waves with frivolity and happiness.

I think it's cool that you were jealous of your old poetry, wishing that you could write like your former poet self and then discovering that the writer was in fact you!

What a kick! It is like you left a gift for yourself to rediscover in the future!

[Ariaecheflame]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

I also meant to include this poem for your perusal or not in my last post. Its by Patrick Kavanagh. It touches on the subject of innocent knowledge and worldly knowledge. Kavanagh was a Catholic transcendentalist I believe. Ok. Thanks.

Advent

We have tested and tasted too much, lover-
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
But here in the Advent-darkened room
Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea
Of penance will charm back the luxury
Of a child's soul, we'll return to Doom
The knowledge we stole but could not use.

And the newness that was in every stale thing
When we looked at it as children: the spirit-shocking
Wonder in a black slanting Ulster hill
Or the prophetic astonishment in the tedious talking
Of an old fool will awake for us and bring
You and me to the yard gate to watch the whins
And the bog-holes, cart-tracks, old stables where Time begins.

O after Christmas we'll have no need to go searching
For the difference that sets an old phrase burning-
We'll hear it in the whispered argument of a churning
Or in the streets where the village boys are lurching.
And we'll hear it among decent men too
Who barrow dung in gardens under trees,
Wherever life pours ordinary plenty.
Won't we be rich, my love and I, and
God we shall not ask for reason's payment,
The why of heart-breaking strangeness in dreeping hedges
Nor analyse God's breath in common statement.
We have thrown into the dust-bin the clay-minted wages
Of pleasure, knowledge and the conscious hour-
And Christ comes with a January flower.

Thanks Joe for sharing, that is a very interesting piece of work. I will peruse at my leisure and no doubt come back to peruse some more as each layer rests.

Much peace and joy to you.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Ariaecheflame

Thank you for the interesting and engaging reply!
Your solstice trip to Newgrange sounds quite amazing.

I like your take on the Christmas and Solstice. The parts of Christmas which I like the most are the experiences of pure joy, after all the celebrations and gift unwrapping are done and when people here start to peel off to the beach without a care or worry and return back to the pure experienced of living. Playing in the waves with frivolity and happiness.

I think it's cool that you were jealous of your old poetry, wishing that you could write like your former poet self and then discovering that the writer was in fact you!

What a kick! It is like you left a gift for yourself to rediscover in the future!

That sounds amazing, alot of people do swim for sure in all climates, in seas and rivers, almost like a rebirth thing going on, I've noticed in my life once or twice, being overtaken by that pure joy of a christmasy feeling at completely different times of the year and wondering to myself when it happened could we possibly stay engaged with the possibility that everyday is christmas. I haven't experienced that one in awhile though

Thanks for framing it that way ..that gifts we have created await us at some future destination, await to surprise us and uplift us. k thanks. Here is a another nice poem by a Jamaican poet by the name of Derek Walcott, you may have come across the poem already. Speaking about the epiphany we sometimes have when we encounter ourselves unexpectedly in quieter ways too and in the common expressions of our own lives.


Love after Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

[LibbyScorp]

:) beauteous, joe

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by LibbyScorp

:) beauteous, joe

Hey Libby thank you ..long time no see, how is life treating you ? Are you still living in Seattle ?

[LibbyScorp]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

Hey Libby thank you ..long time no see, how is life treating you ? Are you still living in Seattle ?

I know haha! Life is swimming along. Doing well. I am still in Seattle! Hope you are well! That baby must be a biggie now!