´
round the munsterkerk
the Christmas market’s dark, stands
and stalls shuttered up:
*
seasonal crowds withdrawn
– spaces of singular silence –
no one left but us
*
contemplating change
in the temples of our heart
where gods die and live
*
lamps hung from abbey trees,
spotlit abbey walls, cast light
over us remnants.
*
Omm
december 2017
The theme of light, struggling to illuminate the people in that “Christmas market”.
Powerful seasonal sentiments, unsentimental and clear, complementary to your Winter Solstice poem from last week – where the light was similarly looking to shine! I enjoyed the image of Wotan and his Wild Hunt in that one, a pagan counterpoint to the imagery of light which is common to the Christian and indeed all religious traditions.
It’s heartening to know that there is a poet whose poetry still engages with these radical, fundamental spiritual themes.