Longest Night Yields to Wolf Moon
Knowledge,
for a time,
lagged behind us
on the longest night
when we would celebrate,
sacrifice animals,
indulge in wine, feast,
and flesh, ignorant of the science,
the moon’s tidal-shifting dance,
stabilizing the magical tilted trance
that allows for being,
for celebration, sacrifice,
indulgence, feasting, and
blissful ignorance.
Knowledge,
through exploration,
measurement, and study,
having long ago cast aside sheep skins and
rosy veils of ignorance,
reveal the illusion of
Sol’s seasonal retreats and returns,
our angles, no longer dangled,
steeped in superstition and myth,
but no less necessary for our
existence, and thus,
still worthy of celebration,
sacrifice, indulgence, feasting,
and heavenly knowledge.
And yet!
Knowledge continues
to reveal new truths,
unlocking doorways to cosmic realities;
the longest night, the redundant,
recurring, cyclical cycle of ending,
beginning, rendered trivial,
infinitesimal against infinite
intergalactic backdrops.
Knowledge stands before me
in this January doorway,
rendering me insignificant,
raising the curtain on liberation,
beckoning me to wonder at
what has yet to be unlocked.
I will feast upon her
in a drunken stupor,
all the while, a wizened man
howling at the new year’s Old Moon.
** *
(Mild nudity in video. Mildly NSFW.)
Written and shared for the prompt, Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Doorway(s), posted by Susan. Feel free to stop by and read other poet’s entry to this prompt
January is my birth month, which hasn’t held much significance in my life in quite some time. Susan shared some intriguing knowledge on January’s origin that compelled me to take another look at it. Per her entry:
“Door” is also the deepest root meaning of January:
January (in Latin, Ianuarius) is named after the Latin word for door (ianua), since January is the door to the year and an opening to new beginnings. The month is conventionally thought of as being named after Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology, but according to ancient Roman farmers’ almanacs Juno was the tutelary deity of the month.
Pretty neat stuff! How could I not break the seal on 2018 and scribble a few lines after that?
Vision of the Infinite is beautifully put. Knowledge as the portal is so true.
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Here in a Southern Hemisphere summer, you make me feel the deep cold.
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So nice to see you, Barry. Happy New Year. I love your title and your closing lines especially. This was a terrific read.
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Thank you, Sherry. Glad you liked it.
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Barry, this is amazing!!! So many visuals and catchy lines. I love this!
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Thanks, trE!
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Thank you for this poem (and the photo and music). I like thinking of knowledge as unlocking doors! It has always been the key. Our big mistake is thinking there is only one door and it leads to a finite and closed system. Your vision is strong.
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Thank you, and I agree. 🙂
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Yes, each new year is worthy of celebration Barry. Your words are wise.
Anna:o]
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