At this Solstice season, we continue to navigate unsettling times. Yet there is light. Look for it. Hold it in your heart. And may this poem – Dark Nights and Heavenly Light – bring comfort and rest to your soul. You will find both audio and text versions of the poem below.
Dark Nights and Heavenly Light
It’s been quite a year.
I said the same thing
last year, yet
here we are.
I don’t find many words.
I feel a lot, yet
words don’t begin to
capture all that I
feel.
It’s okay.
Well, not always,
but mostly.
Once again,
I’m remembering that
being quiet and
being present
are sometimes the best things
I can do.
In fact,
every part of my being right now
seems to demand
stillness.
An intentional and
attentive
stillness
that I’ve practiced
for years,
yet I feel like
I’m just starting to
know.
I’m learning about
life in ways
I never expected.
Who would have ever thought
we would be
where we are? Yet
here we are.
Who would have imagined
I would be
pondering the things
I ponder now? Yet
here I am.
How is it for
you?
This time of year
where I live,
the nights are
long and dark and crisp cold.
The stars are
magnificent—
shimmering points of light
scattered across the
black sky.
Heavenly light
that can only be
seen in the dark.
Yet down here on the earth,
the dark night can be
disorienting.
Boundaries can become blurry.
Thoughts can become muddled.
Things that seemed so
clear in the light of day—
or that I stayed
too busy to think about—
get fuzzy.
Sometimes scary.
And those muddled scary
thoughts
refuse to be
ignored.
Especially at 3 am.
But the thing is,
when I remain
still and present with the
muddled scary
longer than is comfortable,
I begin to see and
understand in ways that were
hidden from me in the
light of day.
Maybe that’s the
heavenly light
breaking through.
I keep learning.
Sometimes it takes the
darkest dark
to show me the
real light—
the true light that is there—
always and forever there—
to guide me forward.
~ ~ ~