As the year counts its final minutes in the Western hemisphere, I pause and look back at 2018 to see
how far I have left my shoes on this journey across the sea. (2)
The year began on a disastrous note when I lost my uncle – read grandfather – while he waited for months to see me
I fell short by a few days to once again crack peanut shells in a blanket as he would tell stories from the years full of glee. (4)
Battered, then, by an ugly phase of depression that I had refused to accept when diagnosed in mid of 2017
All was falling apart with no hope of ever getting better when my sister blossomed the amazing twins. (6)
With her, I nurtured them for a month, that was the toughest and yet most beautiful time I’d agree
and then I moved to Newfoundland, that welcomed with all the warmth amid the winds that were raging one, two and three. (8)
As I watched whales from East Coast Trail, served the locals as Emergency Responder on odd days, and told intimate stories every month keeping the fire ablaze
I did miss my home all this while, while being home in the middle of the Atlantic. (10)
As I make progress at school with tough months lined up in sight, people often ask the question will Canada be my home once the job is accomplished
I ain’t sure as I don’t know what a home is, maybe or maybe not, we shall see. (12)
Nothing but gratitude is all I have for the year 2018
that tested, battered, crushed, and nurtured me to forge a calmer, subtler, humble and refined version of me. (14)
Now when I look in the eyes of 2019, scared, yet with positive intensity, I thank all who became a part of this journey
I walked without shoes, far away from home, across the sea. (16)
