Day 1067, LOTS OF GODS WERE BORN THIS SEASON           

 

Lights in the windows, lights on the trees,

Brightly lit houses, nights start to freeze,

Parties and presents, sore throats and sneezes,

Some say it’s all for the birthday of Jesus.

 

But it’s our…

Tilted axis, that’s the reason

That we have this festive season.

Carolers with joyful voices,

Merchants counting up invoices.

We will make their season sunny

 If we go and spend some money.

Might these sales have not existed

If our axis had not listed?

 

Generations of men wondered

Why it rained and why it thundered.

Winter, spring, then summer, autumn:

First we thought the gods had wrought ‘em.

Then we found our axis leaning

And the seasons gained new meaning.

It is axis inclination

That brings seasons in rotation.

 

Mithra, Saturn, Zoroaster

Brought us blessings or disaster.

They had birthdays in December.

(Days had shortened since September.)

So we thought that we must strengthen

Waning light so days would lengthen.

Candles lit, we celebrated;

Winter passed; as skeptics waited.

 

So…Go ahead and think of Jesus

When it’s dark and when it freezes.

Go on singing; go on drinking

Like the Romans, goblets clinking.

Feast until your tree is wilted.

Praise the power that made us tilted.

Celebrate this as you please;

The Earth tilts twenty three degrees.

 

Stephen Baird 2011, revised 2018