1 Summer Solstice
On the longest day of the year
we went underground, through
chapels of darkness, to a stone
flung up within the cavities
of earth. Through a rock chimney
onto that crib or throne or
execution block the midday sun shone
straight down from its tropic zenith,
seeking the ceremony we were
inventing for it. In the brief
brightness of a sun we could
not see, we sang a hymn to one
whose obscure birth was lit by
an ancient eastern star.
2 New Year
Just as the parties were starting up,
there was a flash and a crack with
no time between, and the whole strip
blacked out – units, campsite,
houses, everything. Kids got scared,
then excited, and families gathered
to consider what to do. Eventually,
leaving the darkness in expert hands,
we made our way to the beach
to look at the white of the wavetips
and the suddenly numberless stars.
We lay quietly on the sand till
midnight, watching the occasional
shooting star's pyrotechnics, called
muted wishes to the other families
there, then allowed ourselves to fall
asleep together on the firm sand.
We woke as the sun rose over the sea,
on the first day of our new year.