Solstice Passing    17 December 2021                  

                                                       by Frank La Rosa Mazza

Deep blue cold sky and sunny bright air, crystal clear--

A burning sun compasses a low arch across the southern sky in late afternoon.

In the sea, deep shadows in the wake of its grey steely waves.

This time of year only a few days till the Winter Solstice--

      is difficult.

The angle of the sun, even though it is a bright sun,

      reveals darkness in me, a sad melancholy

     for all those I have known and have died, gone.

The light is intensely bright

      but ungivingly cold,. chilled.

.