empty landscapes are waking up:
weak December sun glints off frail
webs; frost sparkles in the sweep
of headlights; we follow the trail
of ancient sages in search of gold,
frankincense and myrrh, in tales
we repeat so Christmas can be sold.
Now, opening the advent doors
amid lighted candles and Yule trees,
we cannot shake a sense of awe.
Come New Year, we must believe
and fully trust that we will find
the days and months ahead outshine
the ones we rushed to leave behind.
Kim M. Russell, 7th December 2020
My response to earthweal weekly challenge: Advent for Earth
Brendan says that ‘there’s a stillness to this late-year moment, a harmonic ebb draining down to one single low note: The finest line of last light at the horizon’, the perfect way to describe the tail-end of the year, especially this year, which has been so difficult for everyone.
He gives us some interesting facts and historical details, some of which I knew and some of which were new to me, setting the theme for this week’s challenge. Brendan asks us to go into whatever mood the Advent season inspires in us and write poems of it. We can light Advent candles, listen to plainsong, walk in landscapes present or past, explore new doors in the calendar.
I thought I’d keep a sense of the traditional.
writing in north norfolk 
This is just beautiful Kim.
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Thank you!
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Oh I certainly hope your wish comes true. Your use of enjambment really conveys the sense of moving forward into the new year, and hopefully to something better.
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Thank you, Ingrid. I’m ready for a move in all sorts of ways.
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I like the sense of a traditional English Christmas you capture so evocatively here.
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Thank you, Suzanne.
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I like the sense of a traditional English Christmas you capture so evocatively here.
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A beautiful message of hope, Kim. Nature, I believe, is a reflection of another, higher reality — you have captured this well.
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Thanks so much, Francis.
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A wish we can all embrace, and so eloquently imaged. (K)
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Thanks Kerfe.
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This is lovely
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Thank you!
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Ha, we are on the same wavelength this morning, Kim. We live in hope……but certainly the year ahead will be better than the one we leave behind.
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I’m looking forward to 2021, Sherry.
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A wry observation of the time, searching for meaning, selling it, hoping it will be there more meaningfully next time around. The first line is a gem and a great portal to the poem. – B
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Cheers Brendan!
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