He must increase and I diminish (Malcolm Guite)

       Midsummer night, and bonfires on the hill 

   Burn for the man who makes way for the Light: 

   He must increase and I diminish still, 

   Until his sun illuminates my night. 

              

   So John the Baptist pioneers our path, 

   Unfolds the essence of the life of prayer, 

   Unlatches the last doorway into faith, 

   And makes one inner space an everywhere. 

               

   Least of the new and greatest of the old, 

   Orpheus on the threshold with his lyre, 

   He sets himself aside, and cries, Behold, 

   

   The One who stands amongst you comes with fire! 

   So keep his fires burning through this night, 

   Beacons and gateways for the child of light. 

--Malcolm Guite, St. John’s Eve

Image source:  Jules Breton, The Feast of St. John (1875)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John%27s_Eve#/media/File:The_Feast_of_Saint_John.jpg)

Poem source