In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone.
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago.
In the green midwinter
We know naught of frost;
Wind bears but warm weather,
Snow and ice long-lost.
Day on day still dripping
Falls the dismal rain,
Endless teardrops slipping
Down our windowpane.
Some still tell the stories
Of the winters bright:
Sparkling world of glories
And a sea of white
Horse-drawn sleighs came jingling
By the snowflakes brushed
Faces gently tingling
And the world all hushed.
Come our brown midsummer
Heatwaves shall return
Crops shall parch and wither
Tree and grassland burn
Leaf on dead leaf rasping
In the heavy haze
As we stumble, gasping
Through the shadeless days.
...Ah, but in our dreaming
We were there one night:
'Mid the jeweled trees gleaming
All the world turned white
Into soft drifts springing
Pinpricks on our face
Out our young arms flinging
Angels' wings to trace.
Snowballs soon were flying
Snowmen quickly rolled
Forts and armies vying
Laughing in the cold
Down the hillside sliding
To the crystal stream
There on swift skates gliding --
Must it be a dream?
You who knew the Earth white,
See the world you built;
Though you stole our birthright
Yet we bear your guilt.
Wistful in our fleeting
Childhood here below --
Christ Child, hear our pleading:
Bring us back the snow.
Background on An Advent Canticle:
In December 2012, I wrote a series of 25 poems in total (one for each day of December 1-24, plus a Prelude) and posted each one here on Daily Kos as I completed it. The poems dealt with common Christmas themes, as well as with issues highly relevant to Daily Kos readers: commercialism, climate change, and interfaith dialogue, among others. The wonderful feedback and support I received from Kossacks was a big part of what kept me going throughout this project!
It was suggested that I repost them on Daily Kos as a yearly event, and after some thought, I've decided to do so. (If you want to read them all, they're archived here; scroll down to the bottom.) Enjoy!