Waiting for Winter

Get down from the mountains
You naked fool 
You can’t run around barefoot anymore
Walk in the woods
Look for signs
What will the winter bring?
Is it cold, is it clear, is it windy?
Is it good, is it bad?
Is it sweet, is it sad?
Is it beauty?

Get prepared.

Everything is quiet
No one has time to make noises
Everyone is in a hurry
Time is running out
This is the last chance –
For people and for animals
The snow can be here anytime
Tomorrow, next week, or not at all
We can’t stop the Earth at Fall.

The birds are jumping around on the ground
They gather their foods without sound
Some of them has given up, and went South
What is left is here for the remaining to feast
I am glad I got firewood at least

A black grouse flapping up from a tree
While I am in a hurry, looking for sticks and logs
Dry enough for my bonfire
A loud and mighty noise, the only one in the quiet forest

The frost on the moor is twinkling in the Sun
The treasure is found
Will I ever get hold of it?
Not this time around
The moment is gone
The Sun won
The magic is done


The ice has settled in a pond
Partly
The Sun stole half of it
Fall is half way
Halfway cold, halfway hot
Halfway bright, halfway dark
Halfway good, halfway bad
Fall

The Holly King has got a tiny advantage now
He is fighting hard this year
The Oak King is stronger than ever
As I know this king, he wins in the end
That is how it is
That is how it always has been
Fall is the kings’ fight
The time of the great contrasts

While we are Waiting for Winter the frost is creeping down our necks
Our toes are stiff and the shade is cold
It is hard cold
Frozen metal
It bites our nose and tears our ears
We can dress in thick layers
Still it is too cold to sit still

Find a spot in the Sun
Heaven on Earth
Heat, love, pleasure
Light a fire
Welcome Sun on Earth, make it stronger, closer, warmer


Stroll along the fjords, see the reflection of the feast
See the colours, sparkling, swaying
Feel the triple light
From The Sun, the Trees, the Water
Feel yellow, orange and red
Feel you are lighting up like a torch, you are a torch at Fall
Waiting for Winter

When the night appears at Fall
We go inside, we light candles, we rest
We can contemplate
What has been, and what to come
Yule will soon be here
Wild Hunt


When the Sun sets at Fall
We know that it is weak
Yes, we know
Soon we must shine on our own

Filidh Lochlannach
hege_fossum@hotmail.com