The Shortest Day

 A most welcome turning of the Great Wheel. May the return of the Light heal our world.

I won't be the only one posting this beautiful poem today. On this Solstice, when we can't gather and celebrate, listen for the echoes from the past, all down the long years, and let their rejoicing fill your hearts.

                                     The Shortest Day

                                                 by Susan Cooper

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive.

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, revelling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us - listen!

All the long echoes, sing the same delight,

This Shortest Day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And now so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Learn more about the author and hear the poem read HERE.