First, a public service message on the night skies…
Look for the Quadrantids tomorrow morning before dawn. This shower has meteors falling at rates of up to 25 per hour. If you must be abroad in the darkness and happen to look north, it’s likely you’ll see something beautiful blazing a trail to Earth.
wes hál
they come
these penurious imps
and grinning ghosts
kings of rags and tatters
they come
begging boons of the night
sending song and laughter
soaring with the stars
in bleak and blackened skies
and crowned in coruscating candlelight
they come knocking
at manor doors
demanding their due
a coin for the ferry
a kiss for luck
a toast
to that yawning chasm
before their dancing feet
drink health to you, sir
and futures trail in their wake
caught in the maelstrom of presence
so much import
in small things
a smile
a warm bun
a chance
and they come with open hands
heed you well
the call at the keyhole
lest they come
and then pass you by
your story unwritten
your harvest withheld
your night only darkness
and the libation bowl
empty before the gods
for this they come
and they will not come again
before the sun sets on this present day
Wednesday Word
for 3 January 2024
wassail
You can respond in the comments below or go visit the All Poetry contest for January. Your response can be anything made from words. I love poetry, but anything can be poetic and you needn’t even be limited to poetics. An observation, a story, a thought. Might even be an image — however, I am not a visual person, so it has to work harder to convey meaning. In the spirit of word prompts, it’s best if you use the word; but I’m not even a stickler about that. Especially if you can convey the meaning without ever touching the word.
If responding on All Poetry, you are limited to the forms of that medium, though my contests are fairly open as to form. However, if you have something long, post it in the comments below. That said, please don’t go too long. Keep it under 2000 words. I’m not going to count, but I’m also not promising to read a novel.
Unless it’s really good!
If you have nothing to say, that’s fine. I know you all are busy and distracted. But if you’ve read this far, then I’ve made you think about… wassail.
©Elizabeth Anker 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 
wassail: This is a word I cannot recall coming across until a youngish colleague of my husband’s and a friend unexpectedly called at our home sometime between Christmas and New Year. This was decades ago, when anyone could open our wooden gate and enter our garden [very sadly no longer a wise idea]. They were bearing wine and announced they had decided to ‘wassail’ their friends that evening. A brief merry time we had of it before they left for the next home. It was much later, while talking to my mother, that she reminded me that they would invite their farming neighbours round for a wassail to wish each other a good harvest. I was much too young at the time to have thought the significance of such a meeting.
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