Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice

It wasn’t so long ago, in my youth

I’d sneak past the guard, past the gate.

The celebration was well under way.

You’d send your champion,

I’d send mine, spy vs. spy

In a round of chess.

They’d have a go

While revelers sang and danced

To make the darkness go away.

But the longest night of the year

No longer promises May poles and

Pagan rites of spring.

The lot is empty,

The evergreens chopped & sawdusted,

Stringed lights lie tangled on the ground.

The seasons change on their own now

Without celebration, without recognition,

Without a sound.

- December 21, 2018