There Is Nowhere Love Will Not Go.

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Louise Gallagher

Solstice is upon us and with it, I feel the calling of the muse to write my way into the light.

To stretch myself, to tease my poetic senses into verse, to give my mind an opportunity to lean into the unknown, beyond those spaces where my thinking has crystallized into certainty that I have it all figured out… I have begun a practice of reading a poem a morning – and then – letting whatever that poem inspires come into being through word and image.

This piece conspired itself into being after reading, WINTER APPLE From Pilgrim: Poems by David Whyte.

This is Day 2.

Some days I’ll share here. Some I won’t. We’ll see what the adventure brings!

There Is Nowhere Love Will Not Go
©2020 Louise Gallagher

Let this longest night
 fall
 effortlessly
 into dawn breaking open
 the sky
 bereft
 of winter’s days
 trapped
 inside
 with only the sheltering bones
 of this abode
 where you have held yourself
 sequestered
 to keep you safe.
 
Let this solitude
 play
 effortlessly
 the strings of your heart
 straining
 to not break
 under
 the weight
 of isolation 
 and worry
 that no matter the distance
 between two hearts
 love 
 will not be
 enough
 to keep you safe.

Let this Solstice
 awaken
 effortlessly
 your faith
 in Love’s authority
 to illuminate
 even the darkest night
 with its power
 to break open
 the dawn
 light returning
 to your heart
 on this darkest morning
 of the year.
 
And in that breaking open
 may you remember
 always
 there is nowhere
 Love will not go
 to keep you safe.

A Poem for Solstice

Posted on December 19, 2020 by Louise Gallagher

A Poem for Solstice
 ©2020  Louise Gallagher

In the presence of imminent light
 I linger in supine decadence
 along the edge of darkness
 holding close 
 memories of the sky
 littered with stars cast like dice 
 upon the pitch black velvet bed
 of night 
 softly lit
 by the sliver of a moon
 hanging
 like a partially open door
 inviting me into the mystery
 unfolding
 in the heavenly realms
 beyond the horizon
 where neck stretched
 face upturned
 I wait in eageer anticipation
 for the return of the light
 breaking through
 the edge of darkness.
 
Morning casts aside
 the fiery blanket of dawn
 as light kisses the darkness adieu
 and slips gracefully
 from night’s embrace.
 
I awaken
 to dawn’s breath
 calling me into the mystery
 of life
 unfolding
 on this new day
 born from darkness.

Let us gather by the fire: #longestnightyyc

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Louise Gallagher

Let us gather by the fire
and cast away all fear
of darkness.

Let us gather by the light
to remember those lost
to the darkness.

Let us gather
in darkness and in light
those we remember.

Photo by Sandis Helvigs @ https://unsplash.com/collections/256462/fire

Winter solstice brings with it the promise of lengthening days and spring blossoms yet to bloom.

In the solstice, we are invited to breathe deeply. To dig deep into our own darkness to find the light of our humanity. In that light, we are invited to share our kindness, truth, beauty and Love.

Last night, almost 100 people gathered in the dark to share their kindness and truth and to remember those who have passed away in darkness that is homelessness.

This year, the event was held at Olympic Plaza, a light-filled space where skaters twirl on the ice and the twinkling lights glitter on a giant Christmas tree.

We gathered by the tree, almost 100 people strong, to read the names of those who have passed away. Behind us, laughter rang out as children slid across the ice and parents cautioned them to ‘take care’, ‘slow down’, ‘don’t fall’.

Homelessness is like that ice. Smooth and slick. It lures you in with its promise of an easy slide over the rough spots to ‘the other side’. Believing the ice will hold, you step onto its glassy surface, hoping, wishing, praying it will hold you until you find a safe harbour far from the cold.

For some, that safe harbour becomes a shelter, a place designed to provide emergency supports to help you weather the harshness of the bone-chilling cold that consumed you long before you stepped upon the ice. Too often, that emergency space becomes a permanent refuge as you become trapped in the icy grip of having no place to call home.

The difference between those skaters who slid and twirled across the ice last night, and our solemn gathering of friends and family of those who lost their lives to homelessness was laid bare in the sparkling lights of a giant Christmas Tree.

That tree represents the promise of a new life, new beginnings, new possibilities about to come.

Trapped in homelessness, there is little promise of a better tomorrow. There is no cautioning call warning you to slow down, turn here, look there. In homelessness, there is only the steady downward slide towards a place you never imagined you’d find yourself, a way of life you never dreamt would become yours.

In homelessness, there is no warm fire to gather round with family and friends, toasting marshmallows and sharing stories of your time together playing on the ice. There is no steaming mug of hot cocoa complete with marshmallows waiting to warm you up.

In homelessness, there are only the dark, deep nights of winter calling you constantly further onto the ice until the safety of home becomes just a distant memory, a long forgotten dream.

In homelessness, becoming marooned on the ice is a real and constant danger.

Last night, we gathered to remember those who never found their way safely back to their homes. We read their names, shared stories of their lives, listened to the drum beating, the voices chanting and for a moment, there was no homelessness, no question about which side of the street you lived on — the dark or the light.

There was only us. Our common humanity. Our gathering people come to remember.

Thank you to the Client Action Committee of the Calgary Homeless Foundation for your vision and commitment to making sure no one is forgotten.

Thank you to Vibrant Communities Calgary for your generous contribution of hot chocolate, cookies, and bus tickets for those who needed them.

Thank you to the Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Syd and Brad in particular, for the meal beforehand, the drumming and the prayers.

And thank you to everyone who gathered together to remember those who lost their lives in homelessness. You will not be forgotten.

May we all find hope in the dark nights of winter. May we all find peace.

#LongestnightYYC

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Louise Gallagher

Today is Solstice. The Longest Night of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere.

After months of travelling deep into the darkness, today, the sun will rest low upon the horizon. There she will rest three days before slowly beginning the long journey back to summer Equinox. In her journey back into the light, she will breathe hope into the promise of spring bursting forth with new blossoms. She will breath possibility into the new buds bursting open. In her warm embrace she coax all beings out of hibernation.

She will breath. In and Out. In and Out. And we will rejoice in the sun’s welcoming rays.

For today, we remember.

We remember, the long journey here to this longest night. The long walk into the darkness and depths of winter.

This journey into the darkness of shadowed days where the sun moves back and forth in ever-shortening arcs giving night room to hold reign upon earth. The darkness is not something we can avoid. Pass-over, under, or by. The darkness must be savoured, explored, journeyed into as we explore the essence of our creative spirits resting in winter’s embrace, breathing deeply into the knowing that soon, the cycle will continue, the earth will journey closer to the sun, and summer will once more hold us in its rays of light.

longest-night For today, re remember.
We remember, those for whom the journey here on earth ended in another season. We remember those whose hearts stopped beating on one final note and breath escaped their bodies to nourish life no more.

Today, we remember.

We remember, those who followed the sun’s journey and have now entered the eternal deep and left us here on earth without their smiles, their hopes, their presence. Who have left us here with only the memories of those we loved, cared for, dreamed with, and about. .

Today, we remember.

Tonight, if you are in Calgary, we are holding The Longest Night of the Year Memorial at Canada Olympic Park. Please join us in remember those whose long walks into the darkness never lead them home.