Into the Dark 
Kathleen Jamie
Mid-December. It was eight in the morning and Venus was hanging like a wrecker’s light above the Black Craig. The hill itself – seen from our kitchen window – was still in silhouette, though the sky was lightening to a pale yellow-grey. It was a weakling light, stealing into the world like a thief through a window someone forgot to close. The talk was all of Christmas shopping and children’s parties. Quietly, like a coded message, an invitation arrived to a meal to celebrate the winter solstice. Only six people would be there, and no electric light.
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Kathleen Jamie’s latest book of poems is The Tree House. Findings, a book of essays, was published in 2005. She lectures on creative writing at the University of St Andrews.
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