Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

December 2025

  • Advent: Aging and the Gift that Matters

    The shops were holiday decorated in October. Then the ads flourished like Wild Parsnip. By mid-November, as if exposed to the weed’s sap, I had a severe skin reaction (photodermatitis) that worsened as the month waned. Black Friday. Cyber-Monday. Buy,… Continue reading

  • Advent

    All nights become silent and holy,Laved in the candlelight of our prayers,As muted songs of lamentation are sung,Rising as incense in autumn nights’ air.In this place of our lonely exile,Anticipation rises again in our breastsFor a child, to be born… Continue reading

  • Poem for Li Qingzhao

    Cicadas noisily burst into songAnd whirl in their mating danceOn branches of jade-green.In a lonely courtyard I composeA poem of distant yearsTo possess a moment in time.My heart is grieved then lifted by A memory of you in a thin… Continue reading