By Jerry Kvasnicka

Planet earth,
Magnificent blue and silver orb
Coursing through space.
Not aimlessly,
But on a mission.
Guided by cosmic design and purpose.
Each subtle movement of the dance
A perfect response to tones of Universe.

Tones clearly discerned
In the deep of a winter night,
Beneath skies sparkling with Orion’s light,
As the seven sisters of the Pleiades frolic in the west,
And in the east a waning moon raises part of itself above the horizon.

Holiday lights on rooftops and Christmas trees
Are no match for this celestial array.
Nor is the candle in my bedroom
On the year’s longest night.

Yet in its glow
All of the pressures and passions,
All of the intimacies and divisions,
All of the sadness and celebration,
All, all of the memories of a year passed
Dissolve in a present moment of eternity.
And in this womb of stillness is born
A wonder of being.
To rise upon the stage of life in a new year,
A new and glorious year
Of perfecting earth’s response to tones of Universe.