POETS’ CORNER: TWO FROM ROSEMERRY FOR THE SOLSTICE

20 Dec POETS’ CORNER: TWO FROM ROSEMERRY FOR THE SOLSTICE

Editor’s note: The seasonal significance of the winter solstice, also described as “the longest night”, “the shortest day” or “the first day of winter,” is the gradual lengthening of days and shortening of nights. In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice is the time at which the sun is at its southernmost point in the sky. That generally occurs December 21 to 22 each year. Dating back to neolithic times, the solstice is widely celebrated as a time of rebirth and reversal.

Our favorite Wordwoman, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, celebrates the solstice with two of her wonderful poems.

(And, if you are looking for a stocking stuffer, her books of poetry, including the latest, #13, “The Less I Hold,” can be found at Between the Covers Bookstore, Telluride.)

Take Five

the truth
enters
the room
like a cold
cold breeze—
sometimes
we’re ready
for a break
from the heat,
sometimes
it’s just
so
cold

*

it’s not
as if we
can make ourselves
fall in love
with the world,
but I’ve noticed
that when
I look up
it’s more
likely

*

it is
after all
the longest night
and even though
tomorrow
it’s only one
more minute
of light
it is one
more
minute

*

I have been praying
for openings,
and behind
every door
that opens
another door

*

with my one
minute more
I don’t know
what I’ll do—
but I hope
I remember
to
look
up

AND….

Though It Seems

Even the tiniest
coldest
most distant
atoms
in the universe
release
light

my dear one
it is not
so dark.