A Poem About the New Year's Fresh Start

It is a quarter until ten

on the thirty-first of December,

It is time to take stock

To look back and remember.

Another year of our lives

How it seems to have flown,

From January until now

Faster than any I've known.

Yet, it still brought it's fill

Of both laughter and tears,

As did any one

Of all those other years,

And now just as then

I don't want to forget

Old friends who said good-bye,

Or the new friends I have met..

The clock on the wall

Says it is now half past ten,

Not much time remains

Before this year's end,

So I had better be quick

And not linger to long

If I am to be finishedf

Before that Auld Lang Syne song.

Leafing through memories

Like the pages of a book,

I recall each twist, every turn

That this year took.

The unexpected surprises,

Each new baby's birth,

The void left by loved ones

Who have passed from this earth. 

Another hour has past

It is now ten forty-five,

As I wait here alone

For the New Year to arrive.

As time marches on

to the beat of the clock,

I'm remembering things

With each tick and each tock,

The small act of kindess

Bestowed by a stranger,

A sigh of relief following

A close brush with danger,

A stolen moment

With someone I love,

The loyalty of a friend

When push came to shove.

 

Eleven o'clock

The church bells now chime,

Reminding me to be thankful

Before I run out of time,

For the food on my table

For the clothes on my back

For all that I have,

That some less fortunate lacked.

For the health of my children,

For my father still living,

For the moments when others

Were generous and giving,

For the freedom to live

And to do as I please,

Don't forget to give thanks

For each one of these.

Quarter after eleven

Now it's nearing the end

We will soon say goodbye

Away the old year we send.

To all of its joys

To all of it's sorrows,

To all of it's yesterdays

To all of it's tomorrows,

No matter how good

No matter how bad

No matter how happy,

Miserable or sad,

This year will be gone

Just like all the years past

That's the thing about years,

They aren't meant to last

When the clock strikes twelve

The old year must depart

And wipe the slate clean,

So the New Year can start

Bringing chances for change.

And time to begin anew,

Take your chance on the future,

Maybe re-invent you.

Another year to build memories

With the people you love,

Another year to think things

That you never thought of.

Take a leap of faith

You've nothing to fear,

If it doesn't go well.....

There's always next year

_{Kristen Burns-Darling (copyright 2011)}