Winter Solstice

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---Solsticio invernal


Y cuando es la oscuridad
confiamos en los dioses
que la luz sea —
pero aun
tendremos que cantar
la luz a ser.



------© Rafael Jesús González 2008

sunset on the Winter Solstice

from César Chávez Park
Berkeley, California

------Winter Solstice


And when the darkness is,
we trust upon the gods
that light might be —
but still
we must sing
the light into being.



-----© Rafael Jesús González 2008
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Bouquet of the season

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Blessings of the season in which the Winter Solstice
brings increase of light;
may it illuminate our hearts & minds
that we may heal, achieve justice, find peace
& realize the paradise
from which we have never been expelled.

Holly Tanka

In the cold whiteness,
scalloped green flags, red lanterns —
holly in the snow —
more festive, more lovely than
tinsel strung across the streets.

--------------------------------------------©Rafael Jesús González 2008

Mistletoe Tanka

Winter stripped the trees,
but, they still greenly sport leaves,
fruiting mistletoe.
In scarce winter, the birds feast
and beneath it, fairies kiss.

© Rafael Jesús González 2008

Flor de Noche Buena Tanka

Because it blooms at
midwinter’s holiest dark,
the friars called it
Flor de la Noche Buena,
bloom of the light-birthing night.

-----------------------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2008

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Full Moon of Winter

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---Luna plena de invierno


La luna plena de invierno
canta con voz de oboe
en contrapunto al pizzicato
de las estrellas.
Es una fuga brillante y fría
que llena la cúpula oscura
de plata y melancolía.



---© Rafael Jesús González 2008







---- Full Moon of Winter


The full moon of winter
sings with the voice of the oboe
in counterpoint to the pizzicato
of the stars.
It is a bright & cold fugue
that fills the dark dome
with silver & melancholy.



-----© Rafael Jesús González 2008
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Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Juan Diego's cloak

------Rezo a Tonantzin


Tonantzin
---madre de todo
---lo que de ti vive,
es, habita, mora, está;
Madre de todos los dioses
------------------las diosas
madre de todos nosotros,
-------la nube y el mar
-------la arena y el monte
-------el musgo y el árbol
-------el ácaro y la ballena.

Derramando flores
haz de mi manto un recuerdo
que jamás olvidemos que tú eres
único paraíso de nuestro vivir.

Bendita eres,
cuna de la vida, fosa de la muerte,
fuente del deleite, piedra del sufrir.

concédenos, madre, justicia,
--------concédenos, madre, la paz.



---------© Rafael Jesús González 2007

Huei-tlamahuicoltica 1649

----Prayer to Tonantzin


Tonantzin
-----mother of all
-----that of you lives,
be, dwells, inhabits, is;
Mother of all the gods
---------------the goddesses
Mother of us all,
---------the cloud & the sea
---------the sand & the mountain
---------the moss & the tree
---------the mite & the whale.

Spilling flowers
make of my cloak a reminder
that we never forget that you are
the only paradise of our living.

Blessed are you,
cradle of life, grave of death,
fount of delight, rock of pain.

Grant us, mother, justice,
-------grant us, mother, peace.



--------© Rafael Jesús González 2007

anonymous, Mexico 1746

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