Hymn to Sardinian Apollo

Dawn rips through the sky

With the promise of light,

The promise of colour

Blue edging up from the horizon

Black silhouettes of trees

A double handful of birds flung up

The perfect stage setting

For the sudden appearance of our protagonist

Helios Apollo

Arising in gold and orange glory

Charging out of the sea in his chariot.

 

How shall we sing of you,

Dearest sun?

Giving us all we eat

Through your miracle of photosynthesis

All of our power

And all this beauty,

Letting us see it,

Illuminating everything

Chasing away the darkness.

 

You have only to beckon

And of course we follow

Falling so easily into your orbit

Chasing you through adventures

In time and space

Until the pyrotechnic climax

When you sink into the embrace of the western hills

Rising out of the sea like dark dolphin-backs

As the sky fades through a thousand rainbow shades

To the memory of red brushing the horizon

And falling back to night.

 

Summer Solstice 2017, Alghero, Sardinia.