Light Dawns at Wroxeter

Celtic spring (“Imbolc”) began this week, on February 1st, and light is slowly beginning to fight back against the predominance of darkness.

I recently photographed this beautiful sunrise at Wroxeter Roman city, and some words by the poet Mary Oliver – “darkness opening into morning is enough” – inspired this short poem:

~
The magic
Of the darkness
~
Of the morning
Transfigured
~
Into light
Is enough.
~

Place of Mystery

Place of mystery

In the darkness

As a new day dawns

A day that has not been before

And in this brightening

Being

Is our present

Living.

Dawn at Wroxeter, Shropshire, with The Wrekin in the background

Brother Sun

St. Francis of Assisi talked about “Brother Sun”. As we passed the Autumn Equinox recently in the UK, sunrises and sunsets have become very visible for us all, and I’ve enjoyed recording and posting about some stunning sunrises, in particular, in September 2021.

“Brother Sun” has amazed me painted the sky such beautiful colours, and accompanied me on my daily commute – apart from the recent days of cloud and rain!

Don’t forget to acknowledge the light of Brother Sun the next time you see him!

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day;
and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendour!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
St. Francis of Assisi – ‘Canticle of the Sun’

Sunrise over Wroxeter Roman City, Shropshire, September 2021

The Gentle Fire of the Morning

The gentle fire

Of the morning

Is the calling

Of light

To colour

A new sense of dawning

Distilling from darkness

Of night.

The Wrekin, Shropshire – sunrise, September 2021

Grateful, Take the Good I Find…

I came across these lines recently by the American poet John Greenleaf Whittier:

“Grateful take the good I find
The best of now and here.”

It seemed such good advice – to make the most of what is already around us, what is already within our power to do.

Surrounded by nature in Shropshire, I am very grateful for the blessings of the natural world. Espexially for the beauty of sunrises and sunsets this time of year – the images that accompany this post are of The Wrekin, taken during at dawn in September 2021.

What do you have to be grateful for today?

As If Freshly Created

First mistiness

Then the dawn

As if new life

Is about to be born

In this light

Which appears

As if freshly created

And the soul

Is suddenly

Rapturously elated.

I Watched the Sunrise

Wroxeter’s

A Roman place

And in that space

So many souls have wandered

Today like them

I watched the sunrise

And just like them I stopped

And pondered.

Wroxeter Roman City, with The Wrekin behind, September 2021

Sunlight Sets the Mist on Fire

Out of darkness

Sunlight sets the mists on fire

And all of Shropshire’s

Suddenly aflame

I had stopped

To memorise the sight

Now travel on

Though somehow not the same.

A Beautiful Dawning

The world can be so beautiful.

I took this photo earlier this year, at dawn,of The Wrekin, in Shropshire.

The colours of the morning were so fascinating, and perhaps all the more special as they were constantly changing, and I knew that soon they would change from sunrise to morning.

I draw strength from the beauty of the world I see around me.

Maybe we all can?