Summer solstice

Dear friends,

It is now officially summer, the longest day has stretched itself almost to the end of Sunday, and we have arrived at the season of heat and holidays.  I always think it is strange how the seasons lag behind the sun, how the beginning of summer is the time we start moving away from the sun, so in a sense it is the beginning of winter (and vice versa).  It reminds me of the yin and yang symbols that hold their opposite at their centre, and turn into them at their extreme.  It is part of the interesting balance and cycle of life, each season birthed with its own ending. 

Did you sit out and enjoy the magic of the solstice Sunday night?  Even when I went to bed I couldn’t sleep, I felt awake with the world.  Here is the beginning of the piece I wrote, go to my website http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/ for the rest.

Summer solstice

It is the day of the long sun.  All evening it has been young, it has been early although the clock ticked its time away and now, as I put my house to bed, there is still enough light to linger in the garden and wonder at the pale sky.  When I lived in Scotland it was never black in June, just a hanging grey as I drove home in the middle of the night.  It doesn’t seem right to ignore it, to tuck myself in to sleep as if any other night, as if there will be night and not a sandwich of day. 

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/words

The other piece I am sharing was written a couple of weeks ago after the rain.  I have a beautiful bush of pale pink flowers in my garden (it is a Beauty Bush!) and each day I saw them, bustling past in the enjoyment of the sun, I thought ‘I must take a photo of that’.  Then it rained and I was too late. 

The seasons of my heart

Drip, drip.  The rain has stopped and the leaves play in an orchestra of their own sound, dropping raindrops onto each other and onto the ground, like plastic unfurling, like pebbles walking.  The rain has teased the scent of mint into the air and shone up the ivy leaves to a sparkle, ready to smile back at the sun when it comes as the clouds wander on and find other meadows for their pleasures.

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/words

My last piece is a poem on Hagar I wrote for word Live.  For those of you who don’t know the story, she was the servant of Sarah (Abraham’s wife).  When Sarah couldn’t have children, Hagar had a son for her fathered by Abraham (a common practice in those days) which caused rivalry between the two women.  Her son was Ishmael who became the father of the Arabs and through whom Moslems trace their ancestry to Abraham.  Sarah later did bear a son, Isaac, who became the father of the Israelites and is the Jewish link to Abraham.

Hagar (Genesis 16.1-16)

I am an Egyptian
a long way from home,
travelling on an another’s journey,
following their dreams and destiny
with my service.

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/word-live

If you want to comment on any of my pieces, there is that facility on the website (you need to register first).  Or you can click on ‘Contact Jane’ or email jane@janeupchurch.co.uk (you can’t reply to this email). 

Love Jane