Courtesy extended the first invitation.
Hesitantly, because I did not think I would fit in,
I accepted. I ate and drank, made friends,
Returned home full and happy, with the promise of a good year to come.
Sadly I declined the next invitation
The work of the past year bore fruit
In the form of obligations and commitments.
Luck and Kindness gave me a second chance
And once again I found myself
Among friends, new and old,
Celebrating the new year together.
It was black and white herringbone,
Names matched to faces,
The softest green tea I’ve been privileged to try
It was prizes and celebration,
Counting to ten and two thousand,
Finding an understanding in words a language away.
It was a banquet fit for royalty
Served to regular people
Who work, play, retire, and wake up every day
And the smiles on our faces
The songs in our heads
And in my car as I drove away
With the stroke of a pen
Or the click of a key, it ended
That afternoon became a farewell
Ex post facto.
I belonged, for a moment.
I smiled, for an hour.
You belonged, for always.
You believed, and it happened
And it mattered.
What’s to come, we don’t know
The answers, you don’t have
The future a question
The present is passing
The past is these memories
That reverberate across the universe
And remind me at least for now,
We are still here
