Nearing the Solstice, Eastern Pennsylvania

 

At this time of year,

The sun will set over Main Street

And traveling west will be a challenge

An illusion in dropping the visor

On the driver’s side

(it won’t do much of anything)

The town isn’t an observatory

The angles are not checked

Against the movement of the Earth

Unless Google Earth

Or NASA

Or NOAA

Or the observatories at Dickinson

Or Penn State might do that

Above my little street

In my small town

 

What I know is that the sunlight

Will hurt my eyes and make me

Wish I and all the other cars in motion

Were someplace else

For a little while

 

What I don’t know is the timing of the solstice

Is the road, as it goes east or west,

A Stonehenge kind of needle?

Will the sun on 21 December

Take a Druid turn

To match the light that splits

The altar there?

 

Many of our roads are built upon

Native paths set centuries ago

Maybe they were marking time in an

Old way, and we are

Its surprise

In my age that simply wants to get

To the next town in time for dinner

 

Funny how these layers work

Moderns upon ancients

Unwary of the centuries

That moved upon on the ground

As though we were traversing with

The spirits of creation

 

All to give me trouble with my eyes

Driving to friends’

On a Friday afternoon in December

 

C L Couch

 

 

(at) http://dzhingarov.com/celebrate-winter-solstice/

reminds me of a painting by Bruegel or by Bosch (the life that art imitates)