Advent to Candlemas (Vol. 5)

December

i.

Dense, drizzle-laden mist rolls off the Downs
Closing the day early;
A pot of lapsang suchong's smokey tang
To warm and comfort through
The twilight hour of prayers to the first candle:

ii.

For all the year that's turned, half friends half lost
Already and the layered accretions of routine,
The gentle beauties of rare moments lacquered
Deepening the patina of might have been.

Remembering this hour a year ago,
Slight resolutions and the books unread,
Failure to stir one day after horror,
The minor triumphs of the things unsaid.

A golden flame surmounts the purple column,
Atop the suffering may beauty shine
With the bright promise of your sacred mission
To alloy the human with the divine.

iii.

The wind across the sheep chewn chalk blows almost
As sharp as frost
As velvet closes out the gathering gloom
Hugging the warmth
Against the probing draught that crookeds candle flames
And lop-sides wax:

iv.

"Repent! Repent!
It's not rapacity that I resent
But pride
Which is too prominent for you to hide
Even when it is buried, deep inside."

Repent, repent.
The last time, not unnaturally, was Lent.
Reflections on the year
In cards and letters emphasise the fear
Of what we owe ourselves becoming clear.

"Repent! Repent!"
The fiery baptist's torso, thin and bent
Swaying from side to side
Pours dirty water over gleaming pride,
With words so sharp they cannot be denied.

Aflame! Aflame!
Two hopes that things will never be the same:
The Baptist cries,
His message no surprise,
Self knowledge bringing tears to our eyes!

v.

A break in the weather, powder, coral pink
On a sapphire cloth
Follows the Winter sun over the rim
Of the upturned horizon:
Scarcely a Nocturne played
And the colours fade:

vi.

Home from the crowds,
This day of gifts,
The rose aglow
The purple lifts:
The open heart,
Though lacking taste,
Desires to please
In listed haste.

A time to ponder
Time ahead,
Advent purple
And Christmas red:
This rose fine tuned
In cheerful voice,
Quietly intones,
Rejoice, rejoice.

vii.

As if in wait for stars, the velvet sky
Falls silently
Towards the stealthily soundless whitening ground;
The flame's four points of light,
Has been completed;
The purple last, Of Mary's humble crown
Heeding the Word:

viii.

Mother of Jesus, gentle and strong,
How should we praise your courage and loss?
How rank your fear when Gabriel came,
How feel your pain at the foot of the cross?

Who can resent the hymns in your praise,
The beauty of woman, the Lord at your breast?
Who can resist a prayer in your name,
For courage and comfort, for healing and rest?

Ave Maria.
Salve Regina!
Alma Redemptoris Mater!
Stabat Mater!!
Ave Maria.

ix.

As Bach dies in the gothic vault of King's
The first flake falls;
The candle, white as snow where all lines cross
Flickers, then thrives;
Children are loud on their way to the crib
- angels and shepherds -
While the old walk slowly to a memory
That is renewed
And lives:

x.

At Christmas time fresh carols bring
To celebrate our new-born king:
Old rhymes and tunes we gladly hail
But over-usage makes them stale;
Staples baked into novel fare
Make us more lively and aware.
Our age wants something new to say
And we need different words to pray.
Frenetic, urban lives require
Re-calibration of desire,
Nostalgia for a bygone age
Obscures our message. Turn the page
To bring new songs of hope and cheer
Re-focusing to make it clear
That what we celebrate is more
Than emptying the superstore:
Earth has its king, now celebrate
With tribute, simple, short and straight.
So, sweep the cakes and ale away
For Green & Black and chardonnay!