we kiss the solstice hello
an embrace of darkness
and all that is holy there
the fallow garden
the dancing sheets
the baking bread
the beating heart
the daffodil bulbs under the winter snow

we sit on the beach
at the reservoir
and watch the moon rise
over wintry tides
a cup of hot chocolate in the thermos
and we make a sandcastle
together
and bless the sacred shadows
of a home that will wash away with the next storm

I’d like to linger for a while
my hand in yours
your heart in mine
as the moon glides into the night
for this is where dreams are born
in solstice balancing
and this is where gratitude is potent
in the now
in the gray
in the cold inside my mittens
in the empty branches of the oak:
to say “thank you” here is
serenity

we walk back to the parking lot
with candles, not flashlights
and prayers
oh, so many prayers
as a coyote howls her own supplications
the bare branches of the oak
sway in a nighttime rocking, a Mother’s soothing lullaby
for winter solstice is the fullness
of knowing
that we start from where we are
not where we wish to be