Solstice Eve

by John Stocks

When half the world was wildwood
As wolves howled in Wolvescote dale
And naked virgins prayed to Orion,
The village shaman sat in awed silence,
Watching Swifts and Swallows hushed
Lost in deep chasms of thought
Lonely, intuitive and afraid.

He saw how times could merge
Like seas slipping into oceans
How distant worlds of ice and fire
Would tumble from the sky
And torches would melt in the moonlight.

He saw men scramble into holes
For lead like fossilized mother’s milk,
A last, loveless bear, stumble into oblivion
And wolves disappear into maps.

And he saw mankind plunge into darkness
Vision blurred by conscious thought
Dreams buried, strangled at birth
And the moon-muse turned to dust.