For one of my Christmas gifts, I received a book about C. S. Lewis called Not a Tame Lion. If I had been a member of Lewis’s group the Inklings, I would have been more of an Owen Barfield character, a philologist, lover of words. I am also reading Barfield’s book on how history can be traced through language. I am fascinated!
I do not believe in the Greek/Roman gods, but I know we are steeped in the lore and have beliefs that are strangely tangled with those people who did worship Zeus and Hera and the lot on Mount Olympus. So many of our words still come from that time and those myths. January is named for the god of doors who had two faces, one to see the past and one to see the future: Janus.
Janus left the door ajar
For Old Man Winter and Father Time
Who sit long hours by the fire
Laughing and smoking
Forcing us to creep home through their fog.
Janus left the door ajar
For the Baby Cupid
Who grasps the februs in one hand
And goes out gathering arrows for his quiver
Forcing us to wander toward each other.
Janus left the door ajar
For Mother Nature
Who lays her apron across the kitchen chair
And goes outside to plant crocus and daffodil
Forcing us to smile with wonder at Spring.
Janus left the door ajar
For Avril, Maia and Juno
To come to tea in the midst of Mother Nature’s bounty
Wearing their best and flaunting their brilliance
Forcing us to applaud the show.
Janus gently shuts the door
Against two Caesars who butt their way in
Then Janus finishes counting
Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten while leaves fall and snow begins
And then opens the door once again.
