In Between

There is a pause in the quiet of a year

When celebrations are done;

The tinsel and bright paper,

Party hat and raucous mementos

That saw out the old year and ushered in the new

Are put away for another season.

The holiday bustle is over and the

Hectic pace of life slows

Nearly to a still.

Time winds down like a spent clock

Or a dream where everything moves

In slow motion.

Echoed in the slow measured drip

Of a melting icicle,

The watery stillness of the pale winter sun,

The lonely cry of a water bird across the marsh,

Is the rhythm of a world slowed down.

This is the time after the old year and all its

Obligations are done,

And the new year awaits with all its expectations,

Promises and hopes.

This is the time of in between.

A time of thought and reflection

On promises made,

The gift of friendship or solace

Given or received,

Of vows taken,

And of deeds and actions done.

In the small gap between one

Season and another,

One may stand back a little,

Removed somewhat from the present,

And contemplate what has gone before

And assess the meaning of it all.

This is also a time of quiet renewal

And regeneration in this unending cycle;

A time to hoard and gather one's energies,

To look forward in life to a new season.

As the frozen grasses wait under their

Crust of snow, dormant but pulsing with

The steady spark of life ready to spring

Upward when the earth warms,

One knows that soon the world will be

Hurrying again to flower and bloom

And carry on with the general business of life.

To take a moment of a quiet spell

And contemplate,

To review the past with clear eyes

And rekindle one's energies and

Hopes with a steady mind and heart,

Makes one new again as the

Ever-changing world.