And here we all are again...
On New Year’s EveA quarter century ago,
I wrote my first
New Year’s poem.
It’s about peeling
An onion.
I hand-delivered
Printed copies
Along with a fresh
Purple onion
To people in the GTA.
I continued
With my New Year’s poems
For another seven years.
That’s when I started
Folding these
Into my January calendars
Like this year.
You can find those
Early offerings here.
...
In another time
And place
The Russian poet,
Joseph Brodsky
Wrote annual observations
He called Nativity Poems.
Here from his 1968,
His compelling exhortation:
So, if only in our lifetime,
let us be various!
...
Like this maverick pelican
Who’s left his herd
Huddled on their
Lake Merritt island refuge…
This might be the pelican
Known as Hank.
He’s definitely
Reminding us
Each to find our own way
To be various.
The very act
Of striking out
On our own
Can give us
The precious option
Fresh perspectives
Every day.
Hank makes it look easy.
...
Thank you, Kate, for this Oakland pic. This month, at the usual link above right, I’m including higher resolution options with the 2026 watermark and without. You choose.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course
