From “December 24, 1971”

Emptiness. But as soon as you think it

you see something like light out of nowhere.

As if knowing the stronger Herod is,

the more certain, the more inescapable the wonder.

The constancy of this relationship

is the fundamental mechanism of Christmas.

– Joseph Brodsky, trans. Jenn Cavanaugh

image: “Sun Against My Eyes” by Jürgen Kreileder