21 December 2015

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice, Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland


Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
even in the leafless winter, 
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and getting past it;
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart pumping hard.  I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.
-- excerpt, Starlings in Winter, by Mary Oliver

6 comments:

sprite said...

Lovely. Thank you.

Araignee said...

Lovely!

Caffeine Girl said...

Thank you for sharing! This is just beautiful.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Lovely poem.
The Solstice is one of my favourite days. Dave and I enjoyed a nice bottle of wine last night to mark it.

Nance said...

Oh, this is gorgeous. I am so grateful for Rose over at Sand in my Yarn for introducing me to Mary Oliver. The first line of this alone is priceless.

elns said...

Trying to focus on the parts of winter that I love and not the part that makes me anxious. The poem makes me think about this a bit.