" It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. "

- Charles Dickens

I let out a frustrated sigh

For these window bars, electric wires and concrete walls

Never fail to get in the way of my eyes

Longingly looking at the sky

- Christine

Franny Choi, from a poem titled "Unlove Poem," featured in The World Keeps Ending And The World Goes On

Emily Dickinson

— January 2, 1912 / Franz Kafka diaries

Rosa Chacel, from a diary entry featured in Diario, originally published in 1993

Anaïs Nin, from a diary entry featured in The Early Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 3. (1923-1927)

I wait on Death's shore.

When will it come for me?

I am tired.

Why doesn't it hear me?

Perhaps my pain isn't loud enough.

I gaze at the horizon

Expecting its arrival.

I wish it would hurry

If only for the sake of my sanity.

- Christine

December is the month of reflection,

contemplation, and consequent realisation,

and finally the birth of a rivulet of hope that

flows into the dawn of a new year.

P.S. - Just a little something I wrote in December about how I have always felt about the month, although in the December of 2024, all introspection was gobbled up by sickness.

Franz Kafka, from a letter to Felice Bauer written in 1912, featured in Letters To Felice