Welcoming The New Year - video copyright by Swati Das
Channel: POETRY PLANET
Date: 2021-01-05

Welcoming The New Year
-----------------------------------------
As a new sun emerges 
Out of the sea of grueling experiences
The year gone by , quirky , crazy,
Retreats with a last time lashing 
With its spiky tail
Swiping at many undesirables
And it leaves many lessons to learn
And unlearn past needless burns .

2020 was a baggage heavy 
When sometimes time froze 
Behind a glass door in a ventilator ,
Fear lurked in every corner,
On the door knobs , on the switches ,
On the proximity even with the family ,
The invisible enemy was 
In complete control of confusion.

The rhythm of life got disarrayed,
Randomness of death frightened,
Bad news poured in unexpected,
Bereaved families , choked , bid goodbyes 
From a distance safe , deprived of the last hugs,
Sorrow , grief , pain grappled hard 
To find an outlet .

Endless tumult , racket , cacophony 
In schools , colleges , offices , markets 
Hung in shrouds of silence ,
Every atom smelled of sanitizer,
Paranoid hand washes and yet 
The hands reeked of colorless poison,
Apparitions of fear 
Appeared from nowhere,
Shakespeare echoed in ether
" There are more things in heaven and earth 
Than those dreamt of in philosophy , Horatio!"
Where had we landed ourselves in ?

Humanity now prays fervent 
To rewrite the pledges to itself 
As the new year , 2021 , tip toes closer 
An optimistic script with new meanings ,
New acceptance , new challenges , new normal 
Awaits a relook .

We say goodbye to reckless living 
Hedonistic guzzling in momentary pleasures 
Seems so irrelevant ,
We embrace the environment 
Our ally, forgotten conveniently
In our shortsighted gratification,
A minimalistic life 
Opens the door to sunshine ,
Display of pride , facades of fakeness
Are no psychological equipment 
To deal with obsessive pursuits .

The pandemic in all its ferocity 
Slapped us hard to shake us
Out of the slumber of complacent pettiness.
2021 walks in silent , without fanfare
In respect to the unhealed wounds of 2020
But it comes with hope 
To balm the lacerations 
To revive faith 
To strengthen a belief 
That life will be brushed up 
With colors of love , not acquisitive desires,
Embroidered with delicacy of human bonding
Not irreverent hollowness ,
Sung with melodies of nature 
Not ruthless destruction,
The cobwebs of consciencelessness will clear off
And we will pick up broken threads 
To repair and mend our mistakes .

Swati Das
Copyright reserved 
31 Dec 2020