SOLSTICE SONNET Along the summer stream at solstice noon Calm flow shapes flexile reeds in waves viridian Thus born, Ophelia sang her final tune Before she was enclosed in cool oblivion Above the brook blue Damsels flit in dance And bring to mind that little girl who’d pass Long solitary hours with many a spellbound glance Such simple joys gave solace, filled her glass Could you and I regain that fresh clean vision And find contented bliss within the moment Would we thereby accept without revision Of life, advance with no need for atonement Perhaps one of life’s secrets in this rhyme Is to live, and live always in present time ORIGIN: c.1250, from Old French solstice, from Latin solstitium "point at which the sun seems to stand still," from sol "sun" + pp. stem of sistere "to come to a stop, make stand still."