Whispers of a wicked moon
Coldly slithering in my ear
Another dark, restless night
Closes on a frightful year
Carrying in its bosom
Remnants and nightmares
Of strangest days gone by
Apparitions looming large
Filling us up with dread
Of this virus-laden decade
My dreams serenade
The ghostly guard
In the vanishing distance
Darkness emerges
From behind auburn veils
Of a lonely sunset;
Lovers of the night
Twist and slither
In serpentine glee;
I wake up flushed
Burning from nightmares
Crawling on my cold skin.
I usually sleep after midnight but on New Year’s eve, I dozed off at 11:00 pm. I was brutally woken up by loud wailing. It took a moment to realize it was people shouting, hooting, and celebrating from balconies in our gated community to usher in 2022. The jubilation still sounded like wailing to me!
I lay half-awake thinking the word to describe this cacophony is “lament.” Even the bursting of firecrackers could not shake off this thought. At one point it became eerie. Maybe it was the memory of gloom and despair playing on my mind. When you know a large part of the world is hurting and fearful, the dread seeps in to our lives. How we perceive the world around us depends on our inner state.
Each one to their own. The optimists do make our world better and keep alive hope but 2021 was cruel. The cheerful and the inherently happy bring a much-needed emotional balance. The New Year 2022 starts as a reflection of the past 2 years, with similar events unfolding. It is as if we are stuck in an endless cycle. In 2022, many lost loved ones and suffered emotionally and financially. Last night for every cheer there was a tear, somewhere, and this is a realization that stayed with me. This is a humbling thought and even in the background of sadness, it fills me with gratitude. Hope and gratitude remain the driving force for another circumambulation around the sun.
Coiled within a serpentine fear
Slowly coming to life
Powered by venomous anxiety
Poised to strike
Restless under my clammy skin
I lament the loss
Of kindness, integrity, liberty
In this dark strife
That has led our worlds astray
With poisoned words
The stark beauty of silence
When only the eyes speak
Sometimes burning
As the lonely log
In an ashen fireplace
Sometimes cold
Like the winter snow
Only to be swept away
Blue Pen Strokes 