The year 2017 slunk away
Like stray cat that lost a fight
Leaving bloody tracks and tufts of fur
In its wake
The flood waters have receded
Fires still burn to the south
Refugees across the globe pray for safety
The homeless seek shelter
And the men still beat their chests in Washington
Shouting over truth
But if you are very still and listen
You can hear the sound of the peoples’ drum beats
Pulsing
Building up strength and timbre
Beneath that thin veneer of chaos
Power is as ephemeral as a passing storm
Blowing itself out with the passage of time
Give pause and consider
For 365 days the sun rose and set of its own accord
The tides ebbed and flowed
And one day in August
the moon crowned the sun king
With a corona of light
Wrapping us all in illuminated smiles
We are still here
With our lives
Our memories
Our dreams
Celebrating community
Beauty and love
Between the lines of a script
We did not write
There will be a new story
Starting tomorrow
We have the choice
to change the outcome, beginning with ourselves
And we will all be there
To feed the fire of hope
To light our way through the New Year
Of 2018
Wishing you all the best in this New Year,
Alanna
This is a reblog of a poem I wrote for New Year’s Eve last year when my blog was brand new and had few readers. I read it at a gathering of friends. We were all still reeling from the presidential election fallout. As the poem as it was read caused a hush in the room. Later, several friends told me how much it meant to them. Feel free to share this at your gathering on this New Year’s Eve as we hope for change in 2018. What better way to start the New Year than with poetry?
