Poem: The New Era

Introduction: Every New Year should come with a consciousness and longing for a better year, for change, and for improvement. And because seasons are for appraisals, we should reflect on the successes and failures of the past in view of an improved present.

It was a lengthy rocky pathway…
Rough stormy nights and sunny days…
With slopes and hills I saw many falls…
Cold springs, warm summers, and heavy rainfalls…
It was a vast platform with different clusters…
I had friends and foes, lovers and haters…
12 expired months that left some bereaved…
365 exact days that cannot be retrieved…
And then I reach a new horizon…
A new era, a scope of no return…
I looked back and remembered my flaws…
How I would have done better if I admitted my faults…
I remembered my friends and all who started last year with me…
But now, ‘gone too soon’ portraits are all I see…
I remembered the dirty games and wild parties that got my groove…
Memories of all my egocentric activities and how I raised the roofs…
And now, I am at the other side a few days after December…
All my misdeeds slammed on my face to remember…
Well…as usual on New Year’s Eve I went to church…
I crossed over in His presence; I guess all my sins will be washed…
And then I continue from where I stopped…
Pick up the marijuana bars from where it dropped…
After all it’s a religious routine I’ll always face…
And as usual, I’ll be covered by His grace…
But at that point I begin to ask a vital question…
What if I don’t get to the bridge of this present section…
What if I get trapped in a hole and can’t come out…
What if I’m ensnared in a ring of fire and gradually burn out…
And finally it clicks: seasons are for appraisals and review…
Another opportunity, a chance to change my view…
Being privileged to continue the journey on this new path…
I desire a change of mind and a change of heart…
And so I forever burn my marijuana bars…
From the dirt of my previous years, I wash my hands…
Yes, I’ll lose friends; yes, I’ll break hearts…
But I’ll rather move forward than re-live my degraded past…
I’m ready for solid food, no longer lingering and wasting away like a child…
As I’ve forever crossed the bridge to respond to destiny’s call at the other side.