Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice
By Raquel Morris

The darkness arrives early

Allowing us to see

that which doesn’t reveal itself

during the day

that which doesn’t shine

but burrows

into our body and soul

known but unbeknownst

until we close our eyes

to look within.

Then we feel it

tugging at us

like a small, lost child

afraid to speak

amidst all the commotion

but we found it. 

Curled in a ball

under the blankets

a heavy heart

sinking instead of beating

filling with grief and pain

friends who have passed,

only the diminishing past exists.

My heart holds the weight of the world, 

client stories of trauma, 

hearing cries

of children be hurt,

billions of animals 

being burned

this world can be so cruel.

There’s a pillage 

of the Earth.

To go on everyday

it takes calcification

to continue on

despite it all 

but it hardens

turning the softest flesh 

to rock.

On this day of release,

I release it back

to the void

where it al begins

and it all ends

the universe’s beyond

where all is matter

scattered into stardust

where it belongs.

So once again,

I can become

a dancing feather.