Finding Joy Amidst the Losses

December can be a hard time for many people, 

who keenly feel their life losses

 at a time when they expect to feel

nothing but joy and celebration. 

Instead of expecting holiday times to be a perpetual 

infusion of happiness,

we should learn to identify

 small, fleeting moments of joy 

in everyday things --

a stranger's smile

a surprise meeting with a friend

an outrageous pair of tennis shoes

finding a quote that resonates with our soul

seeing a beautiful thing in a store window

hearing a song that reminds us of falling in love

the hummingbird unexpectedly hovering near a window

and not wait for the staccato 

and flash of fireworks 

and the shushing sounds of angel wings

to signal joy's arrival.

For if we wait for the ruffles and flourishes

to tell us it's time to take notice,

we will have missed

a thousand little episodes of joy. 

That would be a damn shame.

And for those of us who write, 

we must learn to write 

through it all, 

the joys and sorrows, 

highs and humdrums.

We need to write 

whether or not anyone finds our words

and remarks on them.

If we are writers,

that is our calling. 

We must write the words

that express our truth.