Deep Winter Affirmation Prayer


The year ends in darkness, with absence of light
Days shortened and shadow enshrouded
Long, still, ebony hours of night
Silent and dimly cold clouded

Yet, the voice of a dream affirms meaning in night
With purpose the darkness is rife
It whispers the chill, stark absence of light
Is a metaphor searching for life

In the deep cold of winter, in the length of the night
Nine candles glow bright from afar
The sun returns with briefbright Solstice light
Earth is lit by the hope of one star

Each soul, as the seasons, turns like a wheel
A sacred cycle each of us make
When things seem the darkest, the circles reveal
That the light may be ready to break

And so we believe that the darkness will end
That a warm wind will swallow the cold
That the world will be something we can comprehend
As the seasons expand and unfold

Once a heart understands the nature of change
It is free to wait for the dawn
To know warmth is not rare, affection not strange
In total darkness; the light is not gone

The heart speaks a promise the mind cannot break
That there is nothing that cannot be mended
Never a nightmare from which you can't wake
Nor a hurt that cannot be transcended

Darkness can be washed away by the light
Disillusion by laughter undone
Depression can be replaced by delight
Despair bleached to hope by the sun

Even bone-cracking winter ends with new birth
As the world is rekindled with green
There isn't a stain on the heart or the earth
That cannot be finally washed clean

Though our world is still threatened by darkness and pain
And we sometimes feel frightened and small
The light is still stronger, it's strength will remain
And love is the strongest of all


©Edwina Peterson Cross