Sunday, January 1, 2017

_________________________ HAPPY NEW YEAR _________________________


 
1st JANUARY 
The Wise Men will unlearn your name.
Above your head no star will flame.
One weary sound will be the same—
the hoarse roar of the gale.
The shadows fall from your tired eyes
as your lone bedside candle dies,
for here the calendar breeds nights
till stores of candles fail.

What prompts this melancholy key?
A long familiar melody.
It sounds again. So let it be.
Let it sound from this night.
Let it sound in my hour of  death—
as gratefulness of eyes and lips
for that which sometimes makes us lift
our gaze to the far sky.

You glare in silence at the wall.
Your stocking gapes: no gifts at all.
It's clear that you are now too old
to trust in good Saint Nick;
that it's too late for miracles.
— But suddenly, lifting your eyes
to heaven's light, you realize:
your life is a sheer gift.

4 comments:

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Happy new year Alden.. :-)

Alden Smith said...

Thanks Steve, and a very happy new year to you too : >)

Paul Mullings said...

All the best for he New Year may your winds always be Zephyrs....😉

Alden Smith said...

A very happy new year to you Paul - I like the idea of Zephyr winds, rumour has it that they range from 5 to 35 knots, that'll do me!