Poems by Steven C. Brandt: : NATURE: SOLSTICE

Solstice—December 21

-Our hours of daylight change each day of the year

hours of darkness, too

Seasons change every ninety days or so and vary life

for me and you

Long ago people thought the Sun circled our Earth

once every night and day

If one watches it rise each morning, and later set,

it certainly seems that way

So for most, Earth was the center of the universe

but to some astronomers of old

The facts left a lot in the sky at night unexplained

and nudged the boys to be bold

In 1543 Copernicus published a book; it turned

the world upside down

He believed our Sun was the center of things…

many thought him a clown

But over time his thesis prevailed, and space travel

has made it quite clear

Earth along with other planets do orbit a stationary Sun

once each planet’s own “year”

Now this, our Earth, has three features that affect us

the duration of our lives:

One daily rotation ‘round our N-S axis that gives us daylight

plus the dark of night;

One trip around our Sun—as we rotate daily—that takes

365 days plus a tad more it seems;

Through four different seasons during that trip…because

Earth’s N-S axis leans

Our axis leans away from the Sun’s N-S axis six months

‘tween September and March each year

It then tilts back to the Sun’s axis to complete the journey

home again in September and glad to be here

In the center of each six months sits a Solstice signaling

a zenith and a nadir

The zenith in sunny June marks the middle of our summer,

the nadir December 21, our winter

Those in Australia on December 21 can surf and play

throughout the longest day

For folks in America or Russia—in the Northern Hemisphere

N. 00130.

Poems by Steven C. Brandt