at yule
conclusion
Under these black branches,
Under these black branches
Under these black branches
and this icy blue sky
Remember it’s still yule.
The weather refuses to look like winter,
for these days the heaviness of snow is kept away.
We stayed up all night under the light of the Christmas tree,
my poor stomach turning up and down as the world does.
I consecrate myself to this life,
stand naked before the lights and call on light,
light the incense and offer all my senses.
All this life is yours.
The cigarette is a blessing,
this coffee is the sanctification,
the nap the meditation.
Don’t try to make yourself do more than what you can.
This is the quiet rest before the moment of the holy.
CS Lewis was a witch,
he wanted the myth of things and felt the Christ in Bacchus,
and after forty years I am still wandering into wardrobes,
looking for a lion and longing for a witch.
I am the Magdalene longing to be there as you pass,
and in your passing I am Mary
This is the rest, the breathing in and final breathing out before the birth.
All the world is waiting,
all my world is semi silent,
we’ve done all that we can do.
There is nothing we can do
The world is a glass globe in your hand,
clear and round as a womb,
waiting like the silence of the passion,
the red and gold of Mabon has cleared for the glass and blackened
branches of this moment
Last night all four candles burned, three red, one white,
and the holy thorn was lifted,
the chalice was lifted,
everything we had was lifted.
This morning we sit under the white and blue sky,
in the warmth of this house,
we sit with the silent frenzied passion of conception
Now is the time for no noise.
This is the bright bubble of a day,
and we are half hushed in waiting.
This morning the last of the purple and pink came down,
the blackened advent tapers came down.
the rice is cooking, the fish is thawing now.
The light of the tree winks all day.
Do a little less than you planned to do.
Poke a hole in your plans
Last night I rode out to meet a man I hadn’t seen in two years,
we drank wine and were naked under a blanket before
the night ended.
Take up your pen and let old quarrels be mended,
the old antiphon sings,
o emmanuel, emmanuel come to us, come to this land
Emmanuel comes in our hands, and in our deeds,
if we are not willing to be the new kingdom,
then who will be?
This is the day heaven has made.
That it be your day, refuse nothing that comes your way.
A miracle lives cause when wonder came you were
not too busy to receive it,
too afraid to be so free.