Winter Solstice

On the day the sun strengthens, returns

 we walked our grey, wet, wintry landscape and breathed in lots of crisp, fresh air

 we splashed and ran in water and pools

 and felt the cool mud in our warm hands and took in that cool freshness, and it warmed our hearts and bodies and souls to be busy and active and connected with our world.

 

Yes, we took in that warmth and our fires are ablaze.

Winter Solstice

On the first day of winter,

the earth awakens to the cold touch of itself.
Snow knows no other recourse except
this falling, this sudden letting go
over the small gnomed bushes, all the emptying trees.
Snow puts beauty back into the withered and malnourished,
into the death-wish of nature and the deliberate way
winter insists on nothing less than deference.
waiting all its life, snow says, "Let me cover you."
-   Laura Lush, The First Day of Winter