‘Shine’ Time

December 25, 2021

A supposedly special day despite reality — what will I find:

I’m gonna let it shine
I’m gonna let it shine
Heaven’s little light gonna shine on me
Hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Heaven’s little light gonna shine on me
(Shine) Shine on me, yeah
(Shine) Come on and shine

Keeping a shine going is Miss Emily Dickinson, who knew a sparkle in spades: ‘“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.”

And what better a shine, than a poem by Miss Emily — “There’s A Certain Slant Of Light

There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –
We can find no scar,
But internal difference –
Where the Meanings, are –

None may teach it – Any –
’Tis the seal Despair –
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air –

When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
When it goes, ’tis like the Distance
On the look of Death –

Emotional weight is felt by Miss Emily as apparently the days were shorter in light and the shitty passage of time without our control makes it even more of a shine in the evening: ‘Here they take on a melancholy cast, as the poem reflects on three kinds of ending: winter, the closing of the year; later afternoon, the fading of the daylight, and finally, Death.

In context to that oncoming finish, “Wait For The Light To Shine” by Hank Williams the elder:

Ah, don’t you forget your brother as you travel through the land
Wait for the light to shine
He may be In trouble and may need a helping hand
Wait for the light to shine

Even on this particular day, once again here we are…

(Illustration out front: Salvador Dalí’s 1958 painting, “Meditative Rose,” found here)

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