Light bleeds out

 Light bleeds out

Light bleeds out of a January sky

Colors have been robbed and rinsed. 

All that remains are faint hues

Reminders of a day that’s come and gone. 

The hungry evening drains and leaves

The gentlest blue broken only by white clouds

That steal departing rays and dark branches

Stretching towards heaven and the morrow. 

The day has lengthened by a minute 

And promised more if we are patient. 

Lights appear in handsome houses

Where Christmas trees are taken down. 

We feel no shame in staying in

In lighting fires and keeping close

This is a time to come down a gear

To read good books and hibernate. 

The night crept up on us and covered

With a seamless cloak the sleepy town 

Floating in a sea of black with dreams

Of summer days and short sleeves. 

Twenty twenty four has come 

Without invitation or permission 

Cheques once announced transition

From one year to another. 

We know full well where twelve months 

Have gone - we have the scars to prove 

We were in the battle where old friends

Sadly fell and are now departed. 

Their memory is a blessing

Their’s a shining light in hearts

Unwilling to forget them 

In this year or the next.