Bright New Year

A Double Act

Dank, muggy Christmas:

Misty dampness, drizzling rain.
Only the lights
Strung out over the town
Alleviate the gathering gloom.
 
At last brightness dawns:
A clear, cold sky
And a pale, wintry sun.
Our spirits rise
To greet the New Year.
 

Again and again

The pattern is repeated,
The famous double act,
Mr. Nice and Mrs. Nasty,
Sometimes in reverse:

A bright shiny Christmas,

Making the lights on the tree
Brash and gaudy,
Then a dark, relentless,
Depressing New Year.
 
Better this present way,
Emerging from December’s darkness
Into the New Year
With joyful expectation
Of another new beginning.