Meditation for Advent

Advent is traditionally a time for meditating on last things. Sounds gloomy, but the point is that the winter solstice, the longest night, points towards lengthening light. The ancient dwellers of these islands knew it: Maes Howe in Orkney is built so that the solstice sun strikes to the heart of the burial mound. The Christian faith declares it. A rose is born in midwinter, the old carols declare. Advent heralds Nativity: new birth, new life, new hope. So although the following nocturne sounds a little bleak – it ends with light.

                    Meditation for Advent

                    This time of frost
                    bare branches thrust
                    thin lines, criss-cross
                    motionless: a lino cut
                    etched on dim dusk.

                    It is time to draw
                    lined curtains across
                    the now-done light. Last
                    ochre ebbs from the west.

                    This slow nocturne declines
                    towards that eventide
                    when twilight will be most profound:
                            inside around;
                    darkness obscure, surround…

                            yet longest night
                            ends in Advent Light.