New Year

Let us just

say the truth of it

which is that 

many of us are afraid 

to look forward with hope

after these last twists 

and betrayals 

from 2016 into the

present.

I don’t have any 

good wishes

to send out to you

I hope you do not

experience too much pain

in the year to come

I hope you do not

lose the people you love

I hope there are

glimmers of light.

This is a long, long slog

through the mire 

of the wet snow

mucky under the wet 

of the morning’s rain

the cars roll down the hill

gently 

as if they too are afraid 

of what they will find

at the end of the road.

This year 

has been like nothing

I could have imagined 

confined 

yet unexpectedly bountiful 

I am watching the new year

with wary attention 

like a new acquaintance 

who is slightly too attractive 

for comfort 

hoping 

that they will not hurt me.