This poem, from Christmas 2014, is one of my favorites. A Spiritual piece that required some research to complete.

A Christmas Sighting

December 25, 2014-January 7, 2015

On Christmas morning,
a half hour before Noon,
I looked up to the Sky,
as I often do,

And saw the Moon
Chasing the Sun.

The Moon was riding
across the Sky
on a low cloud
fast-moving toward the Sun,
which peeked
from a higher, but still, cloud.

Not believing my own eyes,
I grabbed my phone-cam
to capture the sight.

But the Moon was slick
and flew in front of
the emerging Sun,
creating a dazzle
of brilliant white light
as the two became one—
in a flash—
like a nuclear fusion.
Then, the Moon
scurried past the Sun
and hid behind
a huge wall of clouds,
and the Sun withdrew
behind its own
cloud curtain.

What, in Heaven’s Name was this?

A vision of Heaven and Earth,
Of Light and Dark,
imagined since the dawn of Mankind:
Our human mythology created
to explain our place
in the Universe.

The Old Norsemen knew it:
The Battle of Light versus Dark.
Sköll and Háti,
the two wolves
chasing the Chariots
of the Sun (Sköll) and the Moon (Háti),
each one hoping to devour
either the Light or the Darkness.

But their understanding
of the Wonder
has too many layers—
so many gods and goddesses,
so many forces of good and evil,
so many creatures like Hobbits
in their Tree-of-Life-shaped
Cosmos.

The Native American-Eskimo
told the tale
more simply:
A brother and sister
personify the Sun and Moon,
knowing their shared roles
but always arguing
about their importance.

Yet they too
took the form of howling wolves
to solve the conundrum.

Through the lens
of my Faith,
I read this vision
as a sign of my own
Truth:

On this day, Christ was born!

“On this day, earth shall ring
with the song children sing
to the Lord,
Christ our King,
born on earth to save us;
him the Father gave us.
Id-e-o-o-o
Id-e-o-o-o,
Id-e-o, Gloria
in Excelsis Deo!”*

Christmas is past,
Epiphany, done.

Yet the bells still ring
around the Earth.

As my spirit circle
of friends repeat
a refrain of hope,
a song of peace.

All of them calling—
no matter their basis of Faith—
for Love and Peace
to abide in the hearts of all.

All of them warning
to do it Now.
For tomorrow may be
too late.

All of them echoing
My Advent lessons:

First,
Peace. Be Still.
Wait on the Lord
and He will strengthen your Heart.

And now,

Wake, Awake
for Night Is Flying.

*First stanza of the hymn, On This Day Earth Shall Ring. Piae Cantiones, 1582; words trans. by Jane M. Joseph; melody from Piae Cantiones, 1582; arr. by Gustav Host, 1925. From The United Methodist Hymnal, 1989 edition.