December Journal

​THE DARK BRIGHT SEASON

December came and went,
and not as darkly as I'd hoped.

I wanted to linger 
a little longer, in that
special season where
the light is brighter against
her blackness, and the quiet
is quieter - muffled by the
night.

But that's how it is
when you've learned
how to see
in the dark,

when the deep
unformed is the friend
who reflects
the light that always
was, and the sparkling
gifts - unasked for surprises
that dazzle and delight.


CREATIVITY

You who came as quite a surprise,
the flurry of ideas sparkling through
this unsuspecting ghost of Christmases
past, whose welcome relief from 
expectations and should's and ought to's,

made a space for a wilder Light to
shine and manifest through foraging
and crafting, and placing things,
as if told by the things themselves
where they most wanted to go, 

and how the season has ended, but 
the energy remains.

What light-bright thing wants to be 
born from this darkness? What shining
spark wants to see Itself seen, only to
fade in a moment,

lost as a memory, with millions of others,
but made all the brighter
because of Its briefness?


LONELINESS

Without the stories
you are just a feeling
like any other.

So why of all the feelings
do you sound the alarm,
What's wrong? And why
do you spark an immediate
grasp for something or
someone to soothe or distract?

We are separate seas of 
contracted somethings 
and we know full-well that
it's part of the plan - or game
we might say,

and yet we freak at the
first sign of separate?

I would like to suggest 
that we sit with the terror
of our own respective
aloneness.

When I meet mine and
you meet yours, we heal
all manner of dysfunctional
contracts and unspoken 
deals,

and we wait in the truth:

We are each alone by
design, but eternally connected
by shared experience.


DECEMBER'S GIFT

How could a month so dark
be so bright?

Is it the sparkling memories
of childhood innocence, or the 
collective belief in a Savior's birth?

I've tried both on but neither
quite fits: neither explains
the feeling that transcends
memory or belief systems.

It's the contrast isn't it?
It's how bright the light
appears against the dark
and the quiet, 

the warmth that glows
warmer amidst the cold,

and a quiet recognition
of the stillness in everything -
a stillness that's missed
in the bustle of brighter months.

December is a month for loners
who don't feel lonely. It calls forth
a light that doesn't have to compete -

a tiny lone star shining only
for herself.


WAITING IN WINTER

January grows in her light,
a little at a time, offering
promise of a new year and
new beginnings.

Still cold, she suggests that
we sleep a little longer, that 
we wait and let the light build
all on her own, 

because we might be tempted
to jump into action - the longer
light prompting the cultural push.

But the seed well nurtured creates
the best bloom,

resting deep in the dark
she finds her own depth.