Passion…unbridled

I have traveled to places with high expectations in the past

Only to realize the reality is different, quite fast

After hours of travel and braving long lines

The most famed sites lackluster I would find

Inclement weather and jetlag would add fuel to fire

And suddenly for travel I would lose all desire

*

Now I deliberately keep my expectations low

I avoid in-depth research on the places to which I go

I try to travel with a more open mind

So that I take at face value whatever I find

I hope to be pleasantly surprised by every new place

But be prepared for challenges that I might face

*

This is harder than it appears, once my travel plans are finalized

Travel content for that place shows up on my social media accounts, I’ve realized

That it is hard to ignore content staring in your face

So I end up looking at the airbrushed photographs of that place

Unfortunately I end traveling with notions preconceived

And get disappointed when differences between reality and instagram I perceive…

I know sleep is precious but I cannot resist

Staying up late to read a book with an unexpected plot twist

To put a book down just because it is past midnight

Is something I cannot bring myself to do, even as I fight

A battle between my mind that tells me to go to bed

And my heart that tells me to finish the book instead..

*

Reading is considered a good way

To wind down and relax at the end of the day

But someone like me must be careful to choose

The right book for bedtime reading, or else I might lose

Myself in the plot and stay up way too late

Leaving me to spend the next day in a sleep-deprived state

*

Unfortunately I do this all too often for my good

I would prioritize sleep over reading if I could

Get over a lifelong habit of reading late at night

Reaching the end of a book before going to bed just feels so right!

I am seeing you in my clinic for the first time today

I get the sense that no matter what I say

You are going to have a hard time trusting me

You have grown disillusioned already

You’ve been given the runaround, I know

Between referral delays and insurance denials, things have been slow

You have been dealing with mounting frustration

In addition of seeing in your symptoms deterioration

*

The good news is that you’ve come to the right place

The bad news- a life-altering diagnosis you face

I can treat you, but we have no time to lose

I do not know if you are going to choose

To place your trust in my expertise

Listen to me with an open mind please..

*

Together we can try to beat your disease

Hopefully I can put your mind at ease

With the next step I hope we proceed

I promise to be there for your medical needs..

In the spirit of following the current social media trend

I should talk about the lessons learnt this year before it ends

I do not have anything profoundly philosophical to say

But I have realized that at the end of the day

The importance of a good night sleep cannot be overstated

Sleep is vital for well-being, and I have elevated

Quality sleep to the top of my priority list for next year

If I learn to sleep well, positive changes in my life are expected to appear

*

A good night’s sleep helps me keep anxiety at bay

My emotions are regulated, I have a better day

I handle stress much better, as a result, at night

The monster of insomnia I don’t have to fight

*

As a professional hazard, I often deal with interrupted sleep

And the next day an upbeat attitude I cannot keep

The world seems like a hostile place

Challenges I find hard to face

Nothing feels right until I catch up on sleep that was lost

Each night of poor sleep exacts a high cost

*

Now that the importance of sleep I’ve finally realized

In the new year good quality sleep I shall prioritize

Artistic gift wrap, gift boxes and bags innovative

In an aesthetically pleasing way, gifts I want to give

The packaging needs to be as interesting as the actual content

To put my creativity to use in gifting is my intent..

*

I spend the entire year scouring for inspiration

I come up with unique gifting ideas in my imagination

I try my hand at crafting, I have to desire

To create the Pinterest-worthy gift boxes that I admire

*

When the holidays roll around, it is a different story

Amid a million things to do, my best laid plans go awry

After I’ve spent time buying what I believe are thoughtful gifts

For everyone on the latest iteration of my list

I scramble to gift them in a presentable way

I end up buying generic gift bags to save the day…

*

Now the holidays are over and I’m thinking about next year

I definitely want my gift wrap or boxes to appear

Beautiful and unique, I want to incorporate

Elements from my culture, I plan to curate

Ideas from different sources starting now

I want to finalize my plans before December somehow

*

It’s the thought that counts and not the actual gift, I’ve often heard

But to give someone a poorly packaged gift seems absurd

Let me put my creativity to some use

An authentic way to package my gifts, let me

She toiled away, spending hours in the dim light

Her needle deftly pulling thread, ensuring each stitch was tight

The expanse of the sheer white cloth spread out before her

Flowers, leaves and stems, she skillfully embroidered

The project was intensive, and she had a deadline to meet

She worked on it late into the night until the embroidery was complete

*

Her work would travel the world- so she was made to believe

She had no idea how that would be achieved

The cloth she had embroidered would be transformed

Into couture pieces, she had been informed

By a prominent designer she had been chosen

Into each stitch her dreams she had woven

She had saved her family from starvation with her needle and thread

At least they had enough for their daily bread

*

She longed to follow the storied journey

Of her intricately crafted embroidery

One day on the television she happened to see

A fashion show taking place in another country

A model sashayed on the ramp in a beautiful dress in powder blue

The camera zoomed in on her outfit, she immediately knew

This was her work, even though the cloth had been dyed

In that moment, her heart soared with pride

*

She went back to her needlework with her enthusiasm renewed

No one knew who she was, but far and wide her craft had been viewed

I used to shy away from difficult conversations

But in my current life, in my chosen vocation

Conversations that are difficult, heavy, painful, I face

On a regular basis, I’ve had no choice but to embrace

The discomfort associated with such conversations

I create space before tough talks for premeditation

I leave space afterwords for reflection and contemplation

I interact with patients and their families, delve into their hopes and fears

Sometimes they are reassured, sometimes new concerns appear..

*

During these conversations a balance I have to strike

Between empathy and detachment, when I say things that no one likes

I’m scared of a strong reaction, but I am also aware

That I might react sharply too, I have to take care

To never let empathy leave a conversation

It is my best defense against retaliation..

*

To break bad news, to dash someone’s hopes, are all things I do

As part of my profession, but it is indeed true

That this does not get any easier with time or repetition

This is the least talked about part of my profession

Everywhere I look, I see my annual progress summarized

Is it just me or have others not realized

That the year is not yet over, there are six more days to get through

I can accomplish a bit more, my list of things to do

Is incomplete, I can do more work, read more books, and write some more

On December 31st midnight I intend to tally my scores..

*

Some people view this as a time of relaxation and rest

But for me the end of the year works out best

To sprint forward and exceed the expectations previously set

I pride myself in going beyond the goals already met

*

I have almost a week before the year ends

With a bang, during this time I shall extend

Myself as much as possible so that when the new year begins

I set my goals high, riding confidently on the past year’s wins

Am I the only one who already feels jaded

By the talk of AI infiltrating our world, my enthusiasm has faded

Even before learning the extent to which AI can go

How AI can take over my job, I especially don’t want to know..

*

There seems to be no limit to what AI can achieve

Human intellect would be rendered obsolete, some people seem to believe

AI is not good enough, each time I argue

I am told in the future that would not hold true

Because large language models are learning at a lightning pace

That humans would be overshadowed and subjugated by AI is the reality we face

*

I know the explosion of AI is on a scale not witnessed before

Yet I do not feel ready to get entangled in or explore

The phantasmagorical web of artificial intelligence

I want to celebrate human creativity with fervor intense

As I am exposed to more and more “perfect” AI-generated content

I want to draw, write, paint imperfectly to a greater extent

I want to engage with the world in a more tangible way

Despite knowing well that AI is here to prosper and stay

For learning languages, I thought I had no knack

The ability to pick up words in different languages I seemed to lack

Even in school, I never really tried

To learn another language, I did take pride

In being proficient in the two languages I knew

But learning a language I did not grow up with is something I was reluctant to do

*

When language-learning programs became widely available, it appeared

It was finally time to let go of my linguistic fears

Spanish on a well-known platform I decided to learn

It was a low-stress way of learning, where daily rewards could be earned

For completing lessons and modules at one’s own pace

I thought I could learn a thing or two about Spanish in this space..

*

I started out with a great deal of enthusiasm obviously

Beginning lessons were considerably easy

But soon the grammar became too complex to comprehend

I found myself slacking much more than I did intend

I managed to continue, realizing that I was not

Making as much progress as I had originally thought

*

Although I have persisted in my efforts to learn Spanish, I now know

Learning a language is hard, it is difficult to grow

New neural networks for language in the brain

Nevertheless I show up for my lessons again and again

In Iceland people buy books as gifts and read quietly on Christmas eve

That is the tradition most suited to my taste, I believe

The consumerist culture around Christmas I need to forget

Use this holiday to explore new books and set

Reading goals for the following year

The more I dwell on it, the more attractive this idea appears..

*

In the ideal world, mostly books as gifts I would like to give and receive

I’d rather buy everything else for myself, but books I perceive

As ideas worth sharing, therefore I would appreciate

A book selected by someone else according to their taste

*

I would love to have a friend read a book that has influenced me profoundly

Bonding over the shared love for a book is one of life’s greatest pleasures for me

Next year for all my friends I shall carefully curate

Books with which we can mutually relate

For the longest time winter solstice appeared to be

As the shortest day of the year, a melancholic day for me

I would try to catch the last ray of the winter sun

Before the long, dark night would have begun

The winter solstice marked for me pervasive darkness

It amplified my deep feelings of loneliness..

*

These days on winter solstice, I look at the brighter aspect

After this day, longer days and shorter nights we expect

Although there are several months of winter to go through

Thinking about longer hours of sunshine drives away my blues

*

For the ancient cultures the longest night of the year

Represented rejuvenation, allowing crops to grow and animals to reappear

From hibernation as the days progressively longer grew

It was a time to get rid of the old and welcome the new

*

Though I am not observing any rituals to celebrate this day

I am celebrating this turning point of the year in my own way

By using the long hours of darkness for rest that I sorely need

And in the quietude and stillness around me, an engrossing book read