A New Year

Baring its colors
In the morning dawn
A New Year
Dances among the skyline

Old memories
Scatter light and shadow
Through the joys
And pains of night
To blend into
The anticipation of day

Lost in the dreamy notions
That make imagination
Past images clarify
Still pictures swirl
Into steams of meaning
Securing the past
Unveiling the future

Achievements fall by
Like passing seasons
Counted and unseen
Aging a life
In need of change

Wife and children
Dinner and news
Always the same
Erratic play
Sadly assumed
Bored sort of caring talk
Tired routines
Crisp, clear, winter air
Happy friends
Lobsters and fish fry’s
And scary water mountains
Crashing their fear
Around the child
So wanting to please
Moments of love in their eyes

An unexpected touch
Stirring hidden needs
A blurring
Hand-in-hand walks
Mornings of sleepy bed-play
Fiery life-sucking love
Wandering in senses
The aching emptiness
Obsessed and desperate
An agony of feeling  

A New Year
Alone in sudden fright
The absence of comfort
A strange newness
Taken in precious sips
Tantalizing
Stimulating
As a good wine
Steeped in innuendos

Casting off the past
Flexing forward
With friends long overlooked
A bright, creative, life
A new life
A new year

James K. Richardson