Facing the New Year

and this, from Henry Holland: and this:

Those shining fish

As a poet, I have simply grown all my life in my love of words. In honor of that love, I offer this poem by Gregory Orr: GREGORY ORR ODE TO WORDS                                                 They cluster at                                        

Dirge of the dying year

My poet friend David Katz wrote in his blog about Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” and that made me go back and read it. I had forgotten how powerful it is, and also, how it refers to the end of the year. Read it again with me: Ode to the West Wind      Percy Bysshe

We walk bewildered in the light

The Wise Men by G.K. Chesterton Step softly, under snow or rain,To find the place where men can pray;The way is all so very plainThat we may lose the way. Oh, we have learnt to peer and poreOn tortured puzzles from our youth,We know all labyrinthine lore,We are the three wise mert of yore,And we

Another Silent Night may come to mind

Here’s a wonderful poem by Jean L. Kreiling: December Arriving modestly, without a sound,the first snow of the season fills the nightwith tiny flakes of other-worldly lightthat settles in pale patches on the ground.The stone-cold air turns flannel-soft, transformedby small wet stars that fall and thereby liftthe eye and heart—a fragile, frozen giftthat leaves our

the web in a loom

Shall we liken Christmas to the web in a loom?  There are many weavers, who work into the pattern the experience of their lives. When one generation goes, another comes to take up the weft where it has been dropped. The pattern changes as the mind changes, yet never begins quite anew. At first, we

We are homesick in our homes

Here’s a poem I love, by G.K. Chesterton: The House of Christmas There fared a mother driven forthOut of an inn to roam;In the place where she was homelessAll men are at home.The crazy stable close at hand,With shaking timber and shifting sand,Grew a stronger thing to abide and standThan the square stones of Rome.

O Antiphons: O Emmanuel

And this, from Daniel Berrigan: Daniel Berrigan (born 1921) Advent Credo It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life; It

O Antiphons: O King of All Nations

Here’s a wonderful Solstice poem from Gerry Cambridge:

O Antiphons: O Key of David…O Radiant Dawn

source: Hymns and Carols of Christmas gives us this information about the O Antiphons: “This is one of the oldest of Christian prayers — referred to as the “O” Antiphons, the “Greater” Antiphons, and “The Seven O’s.” These seven antiphons were recited as a part of the evening Vespers prayers of the Catholic Church before