The Turning Year

By Lakshmi R Menon

I. Denial: Winter’s Chill

The world stands still, beneath a heavy frost,

A quiet pause, as if nothing has been lost.

The days are cold, the nights too long to bear,

The heart clings tightly, unwilling to share.

Frozen in time, where warmth no longer stays,

A numb embrace, as the heart slowly decays.

II. Anger: The Heat of Summer

Summer burns, relentless in its glare,

The world too hot, too sharp, too hard to bear.

The heart is fierce, its fury vast and wide,

As every moment fills with bitterness inside.

Every thought is fire, every word a flame,

A desperate search to place the one to blame.

III. Bargaining: The Monsoon Rain

The monsoon comes, with rain that floods the skies,

A heavy downpour as the heart still tries.

“If only,” “What if,” thoughts pour without end,

Seeking a way to fix, to mend, to bend.

The storm is fierce, but it’s never enough,

For none can change what’s become too rough.

IV. Depression: The Fall of Autumn

Autumn falls, and with it, colors fade,

The trees grow bare, the earth begins to trade.

The weight of sorrow settles like the leaves,

As emptiness is all the heart receives.

The days grow short, and silence fills the air,

A quiet grief, a loss too much to bear.

V. Acceptance: The Bloom of Spring

But spring returns, a gentle touch of light,

The world awakens from its endless night.

Though the scars remain, they no longer sting,

For in the quiet, new hope starts to sing.

Acceptance grows like flowers in the sun,

And life, though changed, begins anew, begun.

By Lakshmi R Menon