solstice

december 21st, the shortest day, somethings never change, the 21st december is the shortest day, the least amount of daylight in the year, after today, the days draw out by two minutes a day until the 21st of june, the longest day, the seasons come, the seasons go, there's nothing so certain, today, the sun barely breaks the horizon, me and the boys take a long walk to celebrate the winter solstice, the trees are bare of leaves, naked in the milky winter sunshine, the sun offer's no warmth at this time of year, frosty and cold, dead leaves and the dirty ground, crab apples fallen from the tree and gently rotting away, the river, dark brown and muddy, swollen by the winter storms, up onto the southern most slopes of the peak district before they fall away gently into the derwent valley, dogs, panting, running, marking their territory, someone has marked out a huge 'w.w.1' on the steep hillside, burnt into the turf with some sort of chemical agent, 'world war one' it's a hundred years almost since the outbreak of the 'great war' the shadows lengthen, almost as soon as the day breaks it's fading away........