Last day of old yearDawns with tired resignationHolding her dry breath –Desiring the calendar to turn a shiny new page. Image by NoName_13 from PixabayA tanka is an ancient form of Japanese poem – the first two lines describe an experience; the third is a kind of pivot that leads into the last two linesContinue reading “A 2022 Tanka”
Tag Archives: New Year
Eighth Day of Christmas
The eighth day of Christmas coincides with the first day of the New Year on the Gregorian calendar. In Christian symbolism, coincidentally, it stands for resurrection, regeneration and new beginnings (eight people not only survived the Great Deluge, but represent humanity’s new start.) All this in eight maids a-milkin’! Eighth day of ChristmasExit old, inContinue reading “Eighth Day of Christmas”
On the eleventh day of Christmas … Auld Lang Syne
The gift of connection. The final days of Christmas coincide with New Year celebrations and reflections. As the calendar turns over to the new year, Robert Burn’s Auld Lang Syne rings out through the gathered crowds. It is a song of connection and Christmas is about God’s ultimate gift of connection in dwelling amongst us inContinue reading “On the eleventh day of Christmas … Auld Lang Syne”
On the eighth day of Christmas … a fresh start
Why is New Year’s Day so evocative of lists to improve and enhance our personal and communal living? Life is comprised of cycles, and somehow, deeply embedded in our collective psyche, a New Year (always capitalised!) marks that part of the cycle where we take a deep breath and start all over again. The giftContinue reading “On the eighth day of Christmas … a fresh start”
Three New Year Symbols
Scarcely had the New Year started to roll across the world’s last continent than we on the first one were returning from a New Year’s Day service at Wesley Uniting, Perth. This is where we usually go when I have a Sunday off… it’s only a 15 minute drive, far enough away to feel we’veContinue reading “Three New Year Symbols”
Oh Yes … a New Year
I am aroused from my holiday stupour to be reminded that a New Year is waiting in the wings. One more country – Samoa – will see it first, having just yesterday moved itself to the left side of the International Date Line. So Samoa, used to being lucky last, now jumps to the headContinue reading “Oh Yes … a New Year”
A New Year’s Resolution awaiting fulfilment…
A bit of bush doggerel for a job I have to get done… I sit by the fountain on New Year’s Day; the bricks shimmer and shine in burning heat. Through the parched bowls the leaves swirl and sway; no streams of water – the pump is beat! Beneath the cover the water is brackish;Continue reading “A New Year’s Resolution awaiting fulfilment…”
Wondering Pilgrim 