A New Samhain Poem by Mabh Savage Exclusive to PaganPagesOrg

 

 

A halfway house

Twixt autumn and winter

Cold for us

Frozen for others

Yet warm and barely golden

For some.

So many different Samhains

So many calls to the dead

So many nods to ancestors

Mentors

Friends of fur and feather

Or those family we chose

For ourselves.

Wherever in the world

You celebrate the turn

Towards darkness

Remember turnips

Painstakingly carved

Apple peels thrown over shoulders

Candles lit while looking in the mirror

The butter and cream left out

For those who come

Perhaps uninvited

But never spurned or mocked.

Be safe

Walk well

Ward well

Hold close those you love

Close doors firmly in the face

Of those unwelcome.

What walks abroad

Of fur and feather

Root and fruit

Seed and bud

Or blood or bone

Or something beyond

Our Earthly home

Is nearer now than ever.

Listen to the creak

Of the gate in the wind

Though the night is still

Or the tapping of a tree

At the window

When no tree grows near

Or the howling

Of a fox

Though well past

Their mating season.

Light the lanterns

Latch the shutters

Make your hearth

Your heart tonight

And share the tales

The roots of why

We shudder at

The loss of light.

 

*Photo by Luca on Unsplash (copyright free).

 

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About the Author:

Mabh Savage is a Pagan author, poet and musician, as well as a freelance journalist and content creator. She’s a nature-based witch, obsessed with Irish and British Paganism and Folklore, plus she’s a massive plant nerd. She’s also a long-time Hekate devotee and a newbie Lokean. She works extensively with the UK Pagan Federation, including editing their bi-annual children’s magazine. Mabh is a passionate environmentalist and an advocate for inclusiveness and positive social transformation.

Mabh is the author of A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors,  Pagan Portals – Celtic Witchcraft: Modern Witchcraft Meets Celtic Ways, and most recently, Practically Pagan: An Alternative Guide to Planet Friendly Living. Search “Mabh Savage” on Spotify and @Mabherick on all socials.