The Solstice is almost here and its symbols are varied: the bear, the oak tree, and golden fern pollen; scarlet, orange, and yellow ribbons, candles of the same colours; herbs such as dill and lavender. It’s a day rich with meaning: the mid-point of the year when the wheel turns toward the dark …
SOLSTICE RITUAL 
bread we made that midsummer
flour and yeast water and salt
pinch of rosemary
drift of chamomile
kneaded by mother
then set to rise by noon
brother and me watching
as it crept the sides of the bowl
until I, the youngest
with fist dipped in powdered sage
punched down hard the dough 
which would rise
again by sunset
to be baked at moonrise
and the smell of it
crown midnight
we tossed the loaf 
hand to hand
broke the hot crust
each taking a piece
laughed as we ate
while the year
turned chrysanthemum
A Summer Father … Here is poetry … interweaving images culled from a wartime childhood with bittersweet memories of a “summer father”. Lynda Monahan
1960willowtree 