The long winter night fills us

 

Celebration

There is a reason we save this time
of the year for celebration,
this time when we need sun or star or flame
to take us through the axis tip;
when we need snowfall and miracle
and warmth and song to carry us through
till spring. There is a reason
we search the sky, listening for wingbeat,
verse, the sound of doves hovering
in the shelter of pine. We look toward
one another, rather than away,
pull in toward the hearth
the sturdy chair, take the arms of one
so loved, we could not go on
without them, and in this
pause, we pull in the world.
The long winter night fills us:
a renewal, a radiance, a reason for waking.

~~M.E. Hope