Equinox

I look at the garden and surrounding fields, and marvel at the abundance of autumn. A squirrel balances on a fence post, nibbling a piece of windfall apple. Cooing pigeons balance on the overhead electricity wire. I wish had better balance. As I’ve grown older, I’ve lost my centre, bump into things, trip and fall. However, I haven’t lost my spiritual balance, my enjoyment of nature and her transitions throughout the year, especially autumn, with her fruitfulness and gorgeous colours, and the balance between night and day, warmth and chill, before winter takes over.

with a glowing flounce
day begins yielding to night
balancing seasons

Kim M. Russell, 23rd September 2024

Image by Shane Young on Unsplash

This Haibun Monday at the dVerse Poets Pub we are writing about the equinox with Frank, our host.

He says that the solar equinox is when ‘Night and Day meet as equals. Summer yields to Autumn, or Winter bows to Spring’… a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth’s equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise “due east” and set “due west”.’

Frank gives us an in-depth explanation, as well as examples of poems about the equinox by Elizabeth Alexander, Emily Jungmin Yoon and David Dayson.

36 thoughts on “Equinox”

      2. Thank you, Kim. Our cottage has thick walls and is lovely and cool in hot weather, but we have storage heaters, very expensive, especially when one has a broken dial and we can’t turn it down!

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    1. Thanks Kerfe. I love autumn, but I’m dreading winter this year. In the UK, pensioners’ winter fuel allowance has been taken away from everyone but those on benefits, and the cost of energy has risen. In many parts of the country, there’s a £300 fine if you light an open fire or log burner. I must invest in some thermal underwear.

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  13. KIm,

    Sending this back to you in appreciation.

    “I haven’t lost my spiritual balance, my enjoyment of nature and her transitions throughout the year, especially autumn, with her fruitfulness and gorgeous colours, and the balance between night and day, warmth and chill, before winter takes over.”

    Keep on celebrating the joys of this season to include this season of your life.

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  14. This aging thing! I also have a tendency to bump, knock, scrape my appendages. Your haibun is exquisite …. and I love how you retain the spiritual balance critical to our well-being.

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  15. I’m alarmed at the austerity of your government regarding heating. And to impose a fine for lighting a fire! I thought South Africa was ill-managed together with the greed of politicians. You can’t afford a gas heater? The flat I’m in hardly gets any sun and I’ve been grateful to my landladies for allowing me a heater, else I wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed. For us summer is on the doorstep and I’m almost grateful, knowing what the northern hemisphere is facing, even if I don’t like excessive heat and it looks like we’re in for it this season.

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    1. The irony of it all is that my husband worked at the local gas terminal, not far from here, and there is no gas in our village. We’re on the river so it’s not just cold but damp. I think we might invest in a heater that takes gas cylinders.

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