I Blog Poetry and Prose

Why Do I Grieve In December?

Jamal {Beauty), 3 Masa'il (Questions) 177 B.E. - Sunday, December 13, 2020

Why Do I Grieve In December?

Why do I grieve in December?
Is it because December
is the month of my nativity?
Is it because of memories
of celebrating the winter holidays,
with my parents and grandparents?

Where does this grief come from?
Is it a symptom of
Seasonal Effective Disorder?
Or is it something more profound?

Why do I grieve in December,
when memories of joyful winter holiday celebrations rise
to bring laughter and tears to my eyes?

“Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance, they are sent to us by the Divine Mercy for our own perfecting.”
'Abdu'l-Baha1

I contemplate
'Abdu'l-Baha's words,
consider the reasons for my sadness,
and afterwards I write my sorrows
in line and stanza,
in rhyme and rhythm,
or metaphor and simile.

Thus,
I transform my grief
into artistic form,
while worshiping
the Glorious Lord.2

Footnotes
1  Quoted in How to Turn Your Grief into Creativity by Shadi Toloui-Wallace, https://bahaiteachings.org/how-to-turn-your-grief-into-creativity/.
2  For Baha'is work is worship of God, therefore, practicing a form of art is worshiping the Lord.