“He will come, will come,
Rowan Williams ~ Advent Calendar
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free”
December delivers the darkest hour
at the solstice, delays dawn
dusts daytime away in a fleeting sweep
of the hour hand
and proffers instead a lengthening eve
an interplay with luminescence
animatedly the yearbook pages flicker
flashbacks in firelight
bulb and candle burn with brooding
the ground beyond is in lock down now
'though nothing is lifeless except the dying
you can hear a slow cold breathing earth
audible as companion on a winter walk
each foggy night it visibly exhales
mist manifests from the marshes
our lungs phosphoresce with frost
December delivered my father between the wars
and took him deftly down in blood and gore
at the end, in peace time, piece by piece
I cannot dwell there every year
for the babe is always born again
another reprieve, a further sign allowed
so faith may allay ignorance
and lay enduring doubt to rest
A last delivery to dVerse for 2017 OLN: Breaking for Holiday. It has been a pleasure to forge links with so many gifted and supportive poets and I’m delighted to be included in their anthology: Chiaroscuro – now available on Amazon (Europe) and Amazon – North America
PoetryPix 
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