Merriness, Our Ancestors Knew 2023

MERRINESS,OUR PREDECESSORS KNEW

BCW– White Plains - Winter Solstice 2012

CreativeCommons Copyright

MERRINESS,OUR PREDECESSORS KNEW

BCW– White Plains - Winter Solstice 2012

CreativeCommons Copyright

Ourpredecessors knew, so they left us this merry tradition,

Theyknew that these dark times often gave rise to dark things.

Thatdark fears were often enough

Toengender real darkness among us.

Theyknew the remedy for our personal, intimate terror –

Terror that the world might get stuck justthis way,

Dark, hopeless, unredeemed,

Theyknew that one ancient sensibility might

Keepthe hearth fires burning long enough,

Gatherus together in affirmation of community and family,

Mightsustain us through the doubts long enough

Fornew possibilities to make themselves evident.

Theyknew that among us, gathered, we could kindle a spark,

Tendit into a gentle, warming, life sustaining

Blaze

OfMerriness.

Merriness.

BeMerry.

Long before Hallmark forgot why St Nicksmiled that way,

Long before typographers knew it looked goodon a card,

Our ancestors stood outside the widow’s door

Singing their hearts out, hoping merrinessmight get inside and warm her cold heart.

Thebrightness of red berries, found

Cold,isolated, draped among trees,

Gatheredby loving hands, bough on bough, into a radiance of vital RED,

Inspiringjust the passion needed in these times.

The scent of balsam,

Green,

Balsam sap dripping, life lurking

Waiting its cue –

Even though all other life seems to havefled.

So you, behind your well closed doors.

Where will you go to make Merry,

Risking the wolves in the shadows,

Where will you find the others

Whose laughter, joined with yours

Might affirm this weakening faith

That in spite of all harrowing horrors

This life, this light knows its way backamong us,

And we, some of us,

Will, soon enough, find ourselves livinganother springtime?

Merriness, Our Ancestors Knew by Bice C. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Merriness, Our Ancestors Knew by Bice C. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.