It is the longest day of the year and her belly ripens with
life. She is
garlanded with flowers and she waits. She picks daisies wearily, plucking
their petals, "he loves me, loves me not, loves me." It's hot and the Sun
is high and selfish, "Just like a man" she thinks, "Not like the cool
Moon." Summer is waiting impatiently. She doesn't really want to see him,
she doesn't care. "Don't call then. Don't bother! She mutters to herself.
He's dangerous she knows that, but she courts danger. He will wither her
flowers and freeze her fruit with one foul breath, if she lets him in.
Summer doesn't care. She's had enough of the Sun, but Winter
appeals to
her sense of drama. He's blowing at the door. The door bangs and
rattles. She can feel his breath at the back of her neck. The door is
flung open, and there he stands tall and gaunt, his eyes fierce and
glittering. He is older than she had thought. He is more frightening in
person. Summer backs away. What was she thinking? Was this what she had
invited? Summer tries to shut the door, but he puts his foot in the
way. He blows her away with the North Wind. She is buffeted about; her
flowers caught on the wind, her skirts in tatters, her in tangles. She
begins to cry but Winter has no mercy as he lays an icy finger on her arm
and a frosty hand on her waist. The Sun is alarmed. He is
afraid of
Winter, he makes him shiver, but he can't let him get away with this. He
calls to the warm Southerly Wind for help. The Southerly Wind brings warm
air from the desert and Sahara rain. Red rain falls on Winter pelting him
with sand from the desert so that he struggles like a trapped conger
eel. The wind whips him into a state of confusion and thaws his icy
heart. The Sun bakes the red sand solid so that all that
remains of Winter
is a tall, gaunt statue in Summer's golden garden. He stands there until
it is time for Summer to leave for Autumn. They leave him there until the Sun is no longer strong enough to keep him imprisoned in
his case of sand.
Sun goes over a cloud like landscape
Passing over
Daylight
Lion God beams its main rays with
Intent to make you smile
Golden horizon
Birds fly into a storm
Of hungry worms ravishing
The sun, son of the father
A father belief
To see on and cry at wolves
They only see what is ahead
The day in your hands
Shadows clocking the day
As known by the bee's time clock
That follow the day
Children run to sounds of ice cream vans
The pressure goes down
So does the rain
To quench the first at the animal kingdom
Freshness
As sun radiates and compensates
To the source it came from
The moon come to steal sun's prisoner Day over
Jason Tarney
Achill Island
The longest day
The sun was strong
Beside the sea
The three of us hand in hand
Strolling along the shore
Content and free
With my sister Pat and her
Daughter Siobhan
Collected pebbles and shells
Comparing what we discovered
Ate at the Westside hotel
Feeling full we strolled to the
Play area where Siobhan
Played eagerly letting go of my hand
How happily she played
Lost in her own little world
Finished there
My sister drove to a local town
Castle bar
Ice cream we enjoyed
It was beautiful
Drove home to an open fire
And a cup of tea
Home although we did enjoy the day
I did not realise that a place, I had never been
Could have been so beautiful
Snow capped mountains
Reaching up to the clouds
Little white cottages
Scattered everywhere
Endless sheep.
I brought this image to bed with me
T. Frain
The Longest Day
Fortius drew velvet drapes tightly across his windows, which were already
locked up with large wooden shutters.Listening to the first stirrings of
birds and other animals
outside, a shudder ran down his back.He sighed deeply,looked around and
checked there were enough things to occupy himself with for the next 18
hours.Past experience
had proven that trying to sleep would be useles, because on the
Solstice,the sun was too powerful in its influence to let
him
rest.Surrounded by candles,books,pens and paper, he settled down for this
dreaded day.
As the sun came up,its heat began to penetrate the shutters
and curtains,
and Fortius loosened cravat and shirt buttons.Sensitive ears picked up the
sound of people emerging from their houses,preparing the town square for
the day's festivities.
Seething inside at their laughter and chatterings,he tried to block out
sounds by immersing himself in a book,but the celebration of life outside
was too insistent.Fortius got up and paced the room.Soon a band began
playing cheery music,and waves of happiness and joy seemed to seep through
his walls all around him.Fortius could feel the strength
of human life outside,and like every year,regretted being in a place where
people were so eager to celebrate the sun.Why couldn't he
have settled in
Norway or the Antarctic or even the Moon? Yearning for the winter with its
long nights,and gritting his teeth to get through this day,he
stopped
pacing,sat back down in the chair and picked up the book.Only another 10
hours to go,and the blessed night would fall again.Then he would be free to
go out into the village and drink his fill of the people passed out after
their revels,even if their blood was tainted by wine.Only a few more hours
now,and time would be on his side again until next year.
Story by Gigi Entwistle
