Again one calendar announces its own end,
while another makes its promises –
and across a translucent sky
jet trails arrow eastward.
The cherry tree is a globe
of bare branches, a neural map
of something waiting to be achieved.
The holly’s still in fruit.
How easy to be hard on yourself
in this hiatus between routines
when love and friendship have a chance
to come into focus: not so much a time
of renunciation and resolution,
as a time of gifts and prospects.
The image here is one of the illustration's from 'Nicholas - The Stolen Reindeer', the children's story which is now available as an app, with a text by Tom and illustrations by Marina.
Image: Marina Shiderova; text: Tom Phillips
Image: Marina Shiderova; text: Tom Phillips