Whether you’re marking the Christian Christmas, the Chinese Dongzhi, the Jewish Hannukah, the Hindi Makaraa Sankrānti, the Irish Meán Geimhridh, or any other mid-winter festival, the hibernal solstice is a celebration of rebirth and renewal.
The ever-present potential for beginning anew, as signified by the return of light, is the theme of this chapbook. In it, you'll find a poem for each of the twelve days of this season when the days start to get longer again, that will encourage you to rejoice, reflect and recharge.
Dark nights, lamp or candlelight, and fireside flames in a quiet room provide the perfect conditions for deep and transformative reading.
Reconnect with the wonder of the world-- and of those with whom you share it—through the powerful pleasure of inspirational poetry.
Poetry For Christmas and Other Beginnings by Orna Ross is a collection of twelve inspirational poems for deep mid-winter.
I'm delighted to share one of the poems with you today, as part of the #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour
Christmas Rain
In the year’s dying days,
rainfall once again is falling,
failing to freeze, to become snow.
No white Christmas again this year,
just the falling, failing rain
as silent, I overheard you say,
as a Christmas suicide.
What a chilling line.
I know it hurts your soul,
this ceaseless raining on the town
and on the fields of forest trees
raised for the season,
spruce and cedar, pine and fir,
grown to be cut down.
No sooner born than dying,
you said, and reminded us again,
lest we forget, about the ill,
the afraid and the alone.
Well yes, we must do what we can
but the trees die, it also must be said,
in the cause of life:
faith and hope
and charity
friends and fun
and family
hymns and prayers
and superfluity
of food and drink and gifts.
And now, whatever we might think,
it’s time to loop bright pearls of light
and tinsel round the waiting bough,
to decorate its needle-leaves,
hang bauble globes of colour
from its stalky branches,
and top off the confection
with a sharply-pointed star.
Then to step outside
into the sodden air
and join the heaving crowds
to add our input
to the manic ring
of goods and money
changing hands.
I am not blind to what that brings,
but, my dear, is it not also true
that in the spangled homes,
the valiant trees are letting loose
their scent of pine and fir?
And the weary world is waking
to the light returning
for another year?
And look,
can it be the rain is slowing,
growing plump and white?
Oh, let’s indulge the throb of hope.
Let’s inhale, while we still can,
the joy within
the sparkly season’s
glistening.
Let’s taste the love
that is contained
in the illuminating rain
ORNA ROSS is an award-winning writer, an advocate
for independent authors and other creative entrepreneurs, and “one of the 100
most influential people in publishing” [The Bookseller]. She writes novels,
poems and nonfiction guides for creatives, and is Founder-Director of two
popular online communities, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and The
Creativist Club. She lives in London and writes, publishes and teaches around
the globe. When not writing, you'll probably find her reading.
Website : http://www.ornaross.com/
Twitter : @ornaross
Author Page on Facebook
Instagram @ornaross
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