As northern skies go greyly dark

and days shorten,

the human spirit lights up

in a candle, in a diya,

in a torch, in a flame,

in celebration.

Deepavali, Advent, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa.

Consciousness alive and glowing

through the winters of our lives

within and without.

 

Small steady light with a strong healing warmth

transcending senses—

as flavour and texture,

colour and brilliance,

fragrance and a touch of frost,

bursts of joy, sounds of laughter.

 

When winter comes, light a small lamp

to remember who you really are

and that where you come from, where you are,

every season is glorious.

 

For only in winter, is the full moon as radiant.

And only in winter, do the conifers wear their diamonds.

The silver arms of the birch need no adornment.

And the deep-piled snow agrees with me.

For the moon who cannot see her beauty

form sheets of ice—

mirror to a masterpiece arrangement

of sky and stars and moon,

light and shade,

black, white and blue.

 

One little lamp’s light to remind me

that if I open my eyes, the world is beautiful

even in a dark northern winter.

And then a million lamps lit in celebration

of a consciousness recognized

once  more.

 

The flame, the moon, the joy

the being — one    just one

infinitesimal, infinite speck.

One being.

One light.

One celebration.

 

Deepavali, Advent, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa.

Consciousness alive and glowing

within and without.

 

 

Happy Deepavali!

Have a winter-long celebration!

 

 

Swarna

October 13, 2006