A poem I wrote many years ago, re-written slightly. Originally about Advent, it works well with Solstice, too.
A cold dissatisfaction oozes poison into hours
of solitary boredom that once tasted summer’s warmth
and rejoiced in sensate ponderings of heaven’s languid clime.
Now prayers lie frozen on my lips these bitter, ashen afternoons.
Glossy catalogs and magazines lie orphaned at my door,
but I will not adopt their cheer
nor bed th’insouciant whoring of our winter holy days.
So melancholy punctuates the numbing march of time
into that darkened solstice of medieval isolation —
propelled into the farthest arc, forsaken by the sun.
Thus emptied into neediness, to famine and despair,
I search the yawning pitch-smeared void
and there behold a piercing Star!
No gaily burning candle nor twinkling hearthside glow,
this is the hard-edged hopefulness forged pure and straight of cosmic might,
arising out of nothingness toward Life’s salvific land.
My soul, a silent universe,
lies naked in its beam,
a prayer more fragile and profound
than any summer dream.
For warmth and life, nothing beats baking and eating tasty treats! Steve made a Pear Rosemary quick bread the other day. It filled the house with a savory aroma of sweetness, tartness and tangy evergreen.
May your brief, sunless days be warmed with life, your long, dark nights with be warmed with love!
© 2014, poem and photographs, Priscilla Galasso, All rights reserved
scillagrace 
How well you capture the feeling of this season, Priscilla. I find this time to be so introspective and love to sit before the lights on the Christmas tree and Advent Wreath just soaking it in.
Do you have/share a recipe for that bread? It looks so good and we grow rosemary inside during the winter.
It’s a recipe by Linda West Eckhardt from her Pears book. It seems another blogger has found it and posted it here:
http://www.mouthofwonder.com/2010/01/pear-rosemary-bread.htm
(Thanks! saves me from typing it out!)
Thank you. I’ll see what (if anything) I can do with it! I, too, love the scent of rosemary. v
Victoria C. Slotto
Check out my publications: -Winter is Past, a Novel -Beating the Odds: Support for Persons with Early Stage Dementia -Jacaranda Rain, Collected Poems, 2012 -The Sin of His Father, a Story of the Healing Power of Forgiveness
Website: http://victoriacslotto.com Blogs:http://liv2write2day.wordpress.com; http://andknowthatiam.wordpress.com
P.S. My mom’s (brother’s now) house in California is bordered on 2 sides by an entire hedge of rosemary! I LOVE visiting and the memories the smell recovers!
Best wishes for the coming season, Priscilla! May hope and light and love and warmth and the smell of fresh baked bread continue to grace your home.
Thank you, Naomi! And may twinkly lights and costumed storytellers continue to grace yours!
Sci-fi theme for New Year’s Eve!
May the Fork be with you! Happy sailing in your H.P. Lovecraft! Peace, Live Long and Prosper!!!!
Same to you, sister!
Very beautiful poem
Thank you! And thank you for your visit!
You’re welcome!
Beautiful poetry and good lookin’ bread. Thanks Priscilla & happy solstice.
And to you, Bruce!