20161230 (bury, bear)

There is a reasonable time to declare the year's end/beginning

Since the population of the 

Northern hemisphere far 

Exceeds that of the southern

It seems right to start a new 

Year when the earth’s axis

Is at its maximum tilt away

From the sun. Likewise as 

The passage from darkness to 

Darkness is mirrored in our

Journey from birth to death,

It adds even greater weight to

The choice. Pity the ill-starred

Of the other node who must

Draw the line from one era

To the next at the peak of the

Summer party. Do they boogie

Up to midnight? Take a quick

Break? Then boogie on till

Dawn? Makes no sense, but

Being a northerner, I sympathize

With the winners: There is no

Better time to summarize the 

Annual tolls than deep in the

Bleak cold, nor better time to

Wish afresh for plans and goals,

Better behavior for others and 

Ourselves. Keeping up the year/

Life theme, it’s as if by thinking

On our failures over the previous

Three-hundred and sixty-five 

Days, we declare the death of

Those mistakes and conceive

A new chart, a calendar of days

Unspoiled, awaiting our revised

Self which will, we promise, live

More fully, more happily, perhaps

More wisely and more generously.

Nobody knows for certain that

Those renewed desires will not

Be dashed or be betrayed the next

Moment. Still, that we even can

Consider new beginnings

Despite all past proof to the

Contrary lifts our souls above

The dross of our imperfections

And we rejoice to start life

Again. You’ve missed my 

Point if you think this is 

About losing weight or 

Quitting cigarettes. No, it’s

So much more like Rosh

Hoshanah, the Jewish Days 

Of Atonement. If your Advent

Was not about straightening 

Highways in your desert,

Filling in low places, and 

Making rough places plain,

Don’t waste another minute:

Bury the old; give birth—

Your new self beckons.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016