Christmas Holidays

Grey follows grey,
cascading through November
into December:
washed-out days
falling like the pages
of those animated calendars
in old B movies
indicating
passage of time.

Rain and sleet
driven by persistent easterlies,
chiselling at the foundation
of human patience,
seeping insidiously
into our pleasant equanimity,
and fogging soggy reason.

Relief then,
as suddenly the Season
is upon us.
Friends call,
relatives visit,
and festive lights
create magical spaces
enhanced by holiday smells
of spiced wine,
and steaming puddings.

Familiar music soothes tired soul,
and the laughter of children
brings fond remembrance
of absent friends,
of departed loved ones
whose presence is still strongly felt
in this time of love shared.

The temperature drops,
and pregnant clouds deliver
a gift of pure
and silent snow:
a vignette of Peace
in a season of Joy.