A Poem for Solstice

By Julia Caulfield

December 20, 2024

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Joanna Yonder with curly hair and a nose ring is smiling outdoors. They are wearing a dark jacket and standing in a snowy landscape with bare trees and a cloudy sky in the background.

On Saturday, December 21st, the Northern Hemisphere celebrates the shortest day of the year, and the longest night. In San Miguel County the sun will rise at 7:23 a.m. and set at 4:55 p.m. on the winter solstice.

The day holds special meaning for San Miguel County Poet Laureate Joanna Yonder.

“I think observing solstice can be permission to yourself to understand that this is a time of hibernation and that brighter and more energetic days are ahead. But it’s also okay to rest and go inward a little bit.”

Yonder spoke with KOTO’s Julia Caulfield to share a new poem (so new it doesn’t have a title) on honor of the winter solstice.

It is winter, and your presence is requested.
In the winter, when it’s time to go
deep, deep inside yourself and find the stillness,

You may be the quiet snowbank, waiting.
You may be the whisper of the icy winter wind.
You may even be the bleached bone in the field,
the misty ring swirling around the clouded moon.

During this time, do not forget
that beneath the surface of the frozen stream
is still a gushing torrent. Inside
the stark and silent aspen,
sap is green and vivid.
Full of life.

While you may go inward, this remember:
That the stillness and the later blooming
are not enemies, but friends.
That dormancy exists in service
of eventual flourishing.

– Joanna Yonder

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