Best Solstice Poems
You are
the shortest day
but longest night
within a memory
of my four seasons
Every cell in my body
remembers you
It remembers
Your amorous glance
Your ardent touch
Your effervescent kiss
and even your last whisper
a careless whisper
which sickened my thought
and pained me with grief
Every breath from my lungs
remembers your absence
How can I forget it
I live with it
I die inside of it
It surrounds my existence
Your absence
Bitter!
Dark !
Darker
than death
itself
You -Solstizio D'Inverno
Where is your promise
of new beginning
Where is the light
of what was pure
I know you!
I know you
enough to know
You still feel me in your bones
I know you!
I know you
enough to know
You bury me in your soul
Then you dig..
You dig crazily
beneath poured dusk
which fills the hourglass
beyond your veins
You dig deep
to find me
again
You find me
You hold me
I know you!
I know you
enough to know
You hold me
to your heart
I know you!
I know you
enough to know
I'm still
your life-line
Your love travels
as far as the stars
as distant as God
and undiscovered orbits
But was that
Yesterday's illusion
For how long
should this candle shine
How dim its glow now
Low is the voice
which calls the sun
to rebirths prisms
from droplets'dew
Weak are the footprints
which mark our path
on moonlit snow
I should stop walking
I should stop calling
Stop believing
Wanting,Needing
The sun sank
in the stillness
of a crimson horizon
In the solitude
of the tide
never to dawn
in these eyes again
Winter Solstice
You are
my coldest verse
of silence
My longest night
of rain
The Time of the Summer Solstice
Drums pulsing solemnly presage the break of dawn,
bonfires ablaze dot this auspicious June morn.
On the shores of Albion, Druid priests converge,
as Earth, Sea, and Sky do mystically merge.
A circle of white-robed diviners and bards all a-chant,
amidst sacred oak and holly, as their hazel wands enchant.
The Dawn Ceremony begins the Summer Solstice,
awaiting the Sun’s majestic rise from the eastern abyss.
Rapidly waning is the dark of Spirit Night,
as the Sun God waits to unleash his most brilliant light.
Proudly the Summer King wears his crown at Alban Hefin;
but at Alban Arthan, he relinquishes it to his Dark Twin.
The Wheel of the Year relentlessly turns,
as each season ever changes and thus returns.
An eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth,
it manifests the wonder of nature and Mother Earth.
Drums pulsing solemnly presage the break of dawn,
bonfires ablaze dot this auspicious June morn.
On the shores of Albion, Druid priests converge,
as Earth, Sea, and Sky do mystically merge.
05-26-2016
Contest: Summer Solstice
Sponsor: Shadow Hamilton
Placement: 3rd
Notes:
Alban Hefin – the time of the Summer Solstice, The Light of the shore, by June 21st or 22nd. Light is at its maximum, and this is the time of the longest day. Starting at midnight on the eve of the Solstice, a vigil is held through the short night around the Solstice fire.
The Dawn Ceremony - marks the time of the sun's rising on this his most powerful day.
Dark Twin - the Sun-king is called the Holly King or Dark Successor (Tanist) in the Druid Calendar who reigns during the waning light of the year, until winter solstice.
Alban Arthan – the time of the Winter Solstice, called in the Druid tradition Alban Arthan or the Light of Arthur. This is the time of death and rebirth.
The Wheel of the Year – an annual cycle of seasonal festivals observed by the Druids and many pagans. It consists of four or eight solstices and equinoxes.
Spirit Night - The Summer Solstice was one of the three Spirit Nights of the year, the other two being Beltane and Samhain.
The light is coming and I wish you well...
Behind the running, running man the land
Lies silent, fallow, haunted by the cry
Of one lone mourning rook who flies alone
Inscribing solemn circles in the sky
There is no time to take a backward look
Just running, running, running, running blind
He leaves the flowered garlands that she wove
With ribbons bright, with summer’s love, behind
He runs with only hope in empty hands
All faint of heart, with life blood running cold
The chill of winter earth beneath his feet
All water turned to ice in frozen fold
All out of breath with minutes yet to live
He runs, through elder grove and stand of yew
Runs, seeking for the ancient Solstice door
Described in tales the bards and ancients knew
‘Till suddenly he stumbles on a glade
All silent where no wild bird wheels or calls
And in the glade there stands a single stone
And on the ground a moon dark shadow falls
And there, within the shadow’s light he sees
That which before him other men have found
A stairway leading down in to the earth
A dark descending path in to the ground
No way but down now, this the only way
He gathers one last breath, and full of fear
Goes down the old and foot worn ancient steps
That lead towards the portal of the year
How dark the endless steps of winter’s stair
That shadow down, down to the Solstice door
To where, beneath the door a chink of light
Hints soft and bright across the cold stone floor
He sits upon the bottom step to rest
Reflect, and contemplate the year behind
And lo, she comes, bedecked in leaves and fruit
And dancing, dancing, through his weary mind
Forget me not, she sings; I am still here
I wait for you, for life to shift and stir
And through the keyhole and the chink there blows
A fragrant waft of birch and silver fir
Reviving, blessing, soft upon his face
The promise of new life upon her breath
Touched by her grace he weeps upon the step
For she has saved him with her love from death
Another year dies, another lives
He sits and waits; she watches from afar
And as he waits the light in darkness shifts
And creaks the ancient Solstice Door ajar…
by Gail
beckons darkest day
offering a farthing of
moonshine and starlight —
coupled flesh warm beneath quilt
Winter wine keeps spirits’ bright
beckons darkest day
coldness of the Christ’s sealed tomb —
tears and fears presume
the worst of ebon, the death
of life and healing; breathing
celebration of
the birth and rebirth from God
at the darkest times —
star of Bethlehem sojourns
to every bootlegged corner
celebration of
all sons and daughters of King
haloed in moonshine —
silent nights prescribed, roaring
hearth and candlelight; pristine
12/9/2020
We sit outside and bask in brilliant sun—
And though it’s warm, we know it cannot last,
For August’s days of glare and heat are done;
October’s sunny days are speeding past.
In youth, one summer seemed to last an age—
The days that lingered, sunsets without end.
What seemed perennial was just a stage
As, growing up, we came to comprehend.
And though the warmth recedes as winter nears,
Resist the urge to panic or to mourn--
At dawn upon the Solstice, Sol appears:
With sempiternal rhythm, light is born.
October 23, 2019
This was when the whole world measured time
This is when the light would turn around
This is where the past would come undone
and the spinning earth will mark a new beginning
Let's go back in time, to when it all began
To the breaking of new dawns
Where moments bright with fire, would light the chanting song
Where pagans worshipped sun, and danced among the trees
Wore strange masks of covered straw, and blessed cold ash with awe
Wreaths hung upon the door against all spirit's, dire
and when the winter's grasp let go, the sun reversed the pyre
This was when the whole world measured time
This is when the light would turn around
So that spring arrives, and seeds will sprout and grow
Oh, radiant sun, stretch the day, shorten night
Return earth's darkness into light
This is where the light will turn around
And this was where the past would come undone
------------------------------------------------------------
5/26/16 Summer Solstice Contest Sponsored by Shadow Hamilton
Sweet summer comes in June and I will be
Underneath the sun, for I’m awaiting
Midsummer dreams and my own chance to see
Magical small beings out creating
Enchantment at the setting of the sun!
Radiance can catch a wee fairy’s eye
So stones in a circle could attract one.
Objects shiny too might make one less shy!
Longer is this day, so before the night,
Sugared fruits I’ll put out too, then await
The fairies and stay awake till daylight
In case one comes. Oh, wouldn’t that be great!
Come dawn, I’ll watch sun climb high and higher
Eastward, and there I'll see the sky catch fire.
An acrostic sonnet, written June 1, 2016
Shimmering in the heat of the sun
Time stretched golden landscapes
Summer solstice, sunrise to sunset
Yellow orb sinking in fluorescent sea
Alban Hefin, 'The Light of Shore'-
for Summer Solstice, was their name,
in ancient times of Druidry-
from the shore then the power came.
And there the realms, earth, sky, and sea
would meet that time of greatest light
when Solar God was duly crowned
the King of Summer at that sight.
There was much joy, but sadness too-
for summer days would soon cool down;
then Winter Solstice, Alban Arthan,
sends Holly King to claim the crown.
Oak King was Summer Solstice God;
dark brother, Winter's Holly King.
They fought for, at each Equinox,
the crown, their Goddess vowed to bring.
The festivals of Druidry,
at Summer Solstice on this Earth,
revered the seasons' cycles as
'Wheel of the Year'- life, death, rebirth.
We frolic and hide
Among wind swept laughing clouds
Joyfully silvered
Solstice…
Solstice…
How can I drag myself without divine wine?
I am falling, and I need wine to be mine.
Being inebriated has its own joy,
To me, heedless and headless both are just fine.
I am tired of me being without me.
The me left me, and I don’t know where is he.
He is not me; where is he gone? He is missed.
I am not me; me is not him; who are we?
I am done with my faith, love, and devotion.
With this gray hair, my soul has no emotion.
Where is my bottle of wine? How much more pain?
I’m done with the desert drown me in ocean.
How much longer for my chalice to get filled?
How much more is enough before I get killed?
I came in, and I stayed, and now, it is time.
I must break from my cage that I didn’t build.
The sky is full of tears; it washes my pain.
To me, the best remedy is dancing in rain.
Am I going to dance once more as it rains?
Hope I will see the next year, and then complain.
The good and all the bad are kept within us.
If you have it, you will lose it; have no fuss!
The more you gain, the more you lose when it's time.
Keep only love for good; not much to discuss.
6/10/18 Haloo
This poem is in the form of "Rubaiyat", it is the plural form of Rubai. Rubai is a quatrain with the rhyming of AABA. Each Rubai is a book by itself, it starts and ends within the quatrain, but when it's in the form of Rubaiyat, it follows the single theme with the same meter throughout. Poetrysoup has a good explanation of this format.
Drawn-out nights come with
Brief days now the sun sits still
We sit by the fire
Cloudless sky, naked shades of azure.
Oh, summer vibrant, resplendent sun,
We thank Lugh for his longest luster,
Grateful for the bounty he gives everyone.
Sun lights awareness in every entity.
Oh, boldest, brightest waking day,
Season of growth, splendor, and fertility.
Abundant Earth is teeming with DNA.
We plant the new seeds in our souls.
Oh, wondrous, endless fire regenerative,
May we sip from love and passion’s bowls.
May we always pause, reflect and be appreciative.
Each summer we must willingly shed our tropes,
And rediscover each other with newfound hopes.
Her milky, placid orb peers o’er tan hills
As fades the mustard flame of father’s hate
Cool succor soothes sharp burns where rage did spill
His blinding cruelty will at last abate
Our blistered skin, bleached bones white, hills afire
This eve, his fevered madness starts to break
Grim Solstice marks the peak of father’s ire
Soft sunset’s silken shroud engulfs our aches
Sun’s dark flight, burning guilt now gone from sight
His dusty, wild siroccos brought to calm
This night's repose, world bathed in velvet light
Pale, tranquil seas of Moon’s face like a balm
Pearlescent clouds drift mute across her sphere
Fair promise of monsoons, their healing tears
6/22/16
Shakespearean, Mostly Iambic Pentameter
sun rolls cross moor top
barely strength to raise his head…
no shroud evident
canopy exposed
naked trees patiently wait…
wild wind shroud evident
© Harry J Horsman 2022