May Morning

They amass to raise the sun,
The ropes a braid of chord and song,
The darkness folk to cheer them on
As through the night they gather on.

In the starlight, start to weave
A netting out of ringing feet,
And momentarily believe
As the shout goes up to ‘heave!’

First light like a banner pale,
A gauzy dawn, perhaps too frail?
To lift the weight of summer’s sail
But never do the dancers fail.

As she mounts into the air
Unimaginable pennants flare,
Amber, gold and yet more rare
To celebrate this cosmic care.

They amass to raise the sun
Their ropes a braid unfailing strong
Of love and hope and dance and song,
And though they laugh to move along

They will be back again, ere long.

2 thoughts on “May Morning

  1. Oh thank you! This is actually an account of what my friends and I really get up to on May the 1st every year – we go up a hill at 4am to morris dance so that the summer sun will rise (of course, if we didn’t, the only thing that would happen is a flaming ball of gas coming into view over the horizon). What happens next is usually a huge fry-up! Although this last May morning right after sunrise me and my partner got married – so I suppose in that sense what happens next is something of a lifelong story. 🙂

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