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‘XV Kalendas Ianuarius Eponae‘
Fifteen days [before] the beginning of January – Epona’s Day
(From a calendar inscribed in stone at Guidizzolo, an area of northern Italy which was Cis-Alpine Gaul)
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This is time of stillness
as the marker of time marks time
to the Calend of a new year:
Earthlight glistens
on the ivy leaf,
Sunlight falls
on the holly bough
The red fire stirs
in the kindling.
We count three days
to the longest night
Three more till the glimmer
of a longer day
Then seven to the eve
of New Year Calends.
These days we count
from the feast of Epona,
First festival
of the year’s turning.
Rigantona 