By Julia Caulfield

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