The Merry n Not So Merry

 

I wish for you a smoother path than you’ve had

a room, a friend, a sky to make your heart glad.

For you to know that the dark’s a balm as well,

a pathway to a lasting peace from flashy tinsel.

 

Not every festival’s star studded and bright -

love and peace are sometimes low key, low and light.

I wish for you to find the charm in low key,

learn there is solid earth below the debris.

 

The needles fall, the limbs will disintegrate

that’s the law. Tomorrow’s a different date.

I wish for you to know today’s just today,

and the future’s never an exact replay.

 

Things will turn, even if they’re grim for a spell.

I wish you hope this season. I wish you well.

It's been a rough year, they don't seem to be making the buttery silk ones anymore, they've forgotten the recipe or what?

Rough not just for me but a lot of people I know - online and offline. Not everyone can be, or even afford to be, merry right now. 

I'm not going to whinge about the disasters small and big that have dogged me this year, it serves no purpose except to spoil the general party mood. 

All I have to say is this - if you've felt crushed, panicked and/or overwhelmed by some or other life event, if you've been pushed to the limits of your endurance, then I hear ya! And I'm not wishing you a glib happy holidays!

What I am wishing for all of us is a coping mechanism, that we find a way to turn angst and helplessness into patience and a pathway forward. To find solace in the everyday miracles and good memories and the concern and love of friends, family and community. To keep the chin up and the mind open to 'dwelling in possibilities,' even when we're down on our collective knees. 

As for me personally, I could do with some of the buttery silky stuff - are you listening, Universe? 

Wish you tranquil festivals and a celebration of hope in New Year 2025. May it treat us all gently. 

Good Days

 

Tiger Hill, Darjeeling. 

On good days I notice the smaller things -

how the light strikes the litter, crumpled foil

bravely tries to give back. Butterfly wings.

On bad days - there are headlines on the boil.

On good days - the birdsongs. And their echoes.

How long they take to reverberate, to fade.

How the bracken on the mountain slope grows.

On bad days - the leaders and their tirades.

The waterfalls, the orchids, the lone skink.

The squirrel come to scope the balcony

as everywhere their normal habitats shrink.

The clouds offering handkerchiefs to me.

Most are good. Sometimes it's hard to discern

the exact point they end and where they turn.

The main purpose of going to Darj this time was to  get a clear view of the Kanchenjunga, which as you can tell from the image, was fully achieved.  We had several absolutely clear days, not a speck of rain anywhere, magical sunrises and sunsets, clicked everything I possibly could, so all in all - fabulous.  Much changes, and yet much remains the same. The mountains feel timeless though we know they too erode.  We went back to the old haunts - Glenary's, Penang, St Paul's School, hubby being an Old Paulite. He showed us the spots where the best views (and food!) could be had. It helps to have an insider in the team. 

I had planned to get a little introspective for this post, rounding up the year etc, but there are still three weeks left.  So still some way to go. In case you're taking time off from blogland  over the rest of the month -  season's greetings  to you and yours. Wish you the very best for the holidays and the New Year 2025.