Best Day of the Year

Happy Solstice and Chanukah to all!  I can't think of a better night to light the menorah than the shortest day of the year.  (Why do I have to explain this concept to my students year after year?)  I love the Winter Solstice.  I love the promise of December 22 and the days that follow.

Here is a Solstice poem for you:

Just Delicate Needles

It's so delicate, the light.

And there's so little of it. The dark

is huge.

Just delicate needles, the light,

in an endless night.

And it has such a long way to go

through such desolate space.

So let's be gentle with it.

Cherish it.

So it will come again in the morning.

We hope.

Rolf Jacobsen

Translated by Robert Hedin

Copper Canyon Press