Last Moments of December

 

 

Poem Caption: Last Moments of December

The room is breathing slowly tonight.
One bulb flicker, tired of staying awake.
Shadows sit on the walls
Like guests who were never invited
But came anyway.
The chair remembers my weight,
Even when I stand.
The bed keeps my shape,
Even when I don’t lie down.
Everything here knows me
Better than the people who left.
Outside, December presses its face
Against the window.
Cold fingers crawl through the cracks,
Touching old wounds
Without asking permission.
The clock does not move forward.
It chews the same second
Again and again,
As if time itself
Is afraid to leave me alone.
I listen to silence
Not the peaceful kind,
But the one that hums,
That scratches the chest from inside,
That reminds you
Of all the words
You never got back.
A cup of tea grows colder on the table,
Just like the promises once made.
Steam rises briefly,
Then disappears
The way warmth always does
When I start believing in it.
Memories sit on the floor tonight.
Not neatly.
They are scattered
A laugh here,
A voice there,
A night that never learned
How to end properly.
I try to gather them,
But they cut my hands.
Some memories don’t want to be held,
They only want to hurt
One last time.
December watches quietly.
It understands loss.
It knows how people fade
Without actually leaving the room.
My breath fogs the glass,
I write a name with it,
And before I finish,
It vanishes.
Even air refuses
To let me keep anything.
The walls lean closer.
The ceiling listens.
The floor feels heavier.
This room has become a witness
To a heart
Slowly learning
How to collapse politely.
I sit down,
Because standing requires hope.
I close my eyes,
Because seeing asks questions
I can no longer answer.
Outside, the night deepens.
Inside, something finally breaks
Not loudly,
Not dramatically,
But the way-tired people break:
Silently,
Without resistance.
December takes the last light with it.
Leaves the room colder than before.
Leaves me holding a sadness
That no longer cries
It simply exists.
And in these last moments of December,
I understand something unbearable:
Some hearts don’t heal,
They only learn
How to ache
More quietly.

(Translated into English, dated: 31 December 2025, 2:30 PM
Written by Zeeshan Ameer Saleemi)