Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Light and Dark

The six ecological seasons, illustrated by Meinolf Wewel

  "...the man in the street does not know a star in the sky. 

The solstice he does not observe; the equinox he knows as little; 

and the whole bright calendar of the year is without a dial in his mind. "

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Midweek Motif ~ Light and Dark

(The Longest/Shortest Day, Solstice)

In the Northern Hemisphere, our days lengthen into summer until our longest day, this year Friday, 20 June (the precise solstice is at 6:51 AM (ET) on Saturday, June 21).  In the Southern Hemisphere, our days shorten into winter until this shortest day. Thus, in the North we are about to experience the slow (re)turn to Dark; in the South we are about to experience the slow (re)turn to Light.

Your Challenge:  Use longest/shortest day or return to Light/Dark—as a metaphor in a new poem.  

Poetic inspiration:

Day in Autumn

BY RAINER MARIA RILKE,  TRANSLATED BY MARY KINZIE Read the translator's notes

After the summer's yield, Lord, it is time

to let your shadow lengthen on the sundials

and in the pastures let the rough winds fly.

As for the final fruits, coax them to roundness.

Direct on them two days of warmer light
. . . .   ( Continue reading HERE.)

We Have Not Long To Love

BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

We have not long to love.

Light does not stay.

The tender things are those

we fold away.

. . . .   (Read the rest HERE.)

Please:  

1.      Post your poem with its  Light and Dark motif on your site, and then link it here.

2.      Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 

3.      Leave a comment here.

4.      Honor our community by visiting and commenting on others' poems.

(Next week's Midweek Motif is Diary Stories.)

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