Preparing for the New Year

On New Year's Eve 2009, I wrote this poem:

Today I am happy
Contentment soaks my body like oxygen
I hear Maya Angelou say "And still I rise"
And I lean back into my chair
Appreciative.

I hope that all of you have many occasions to feel this way now and throughout the coming year.

I ask your indulgence as I offer a few more bits of poetry written by me in 2009-2010:

3 Jan. (haiku):
Sun trifles with Earth
a fitful novice lover
clouds drift to part them

8 Feb. (when we actually had snow):
Fat fluffy snowflakes swirling
make dogs happy, twirling,
dipping, plowing, faces down,
white masks shine up, eyes bright

19 Feb. (upon the illness of a friend's pet):
A season cannot contain a pet's love
nor a lifetime diminish it
These tender spirits intertwine our lives
like dancing, breezy candle flames


13 Apr. (haiku):
Little plum blossoms
hold on on tight while April's winds
clear off winter's dead

27 Nov. (haiku challenge, word: abandon):
fog, wind, sand, driftwood
deep abandoned childhood
sorrow settles here

5 Oct. (on turmoil):
Perhaps this is my challenge
to accept without caveat
that which is
to release, seek peace, not resist
powerlessness
I bow


Last night, to a friend:
Life doesn't need to come all at once.
There is no disappointment in not achieving things
Exactly as planned
As you think it is supposed to be.
Sometimes life's problems come from our own striving
Our own imagining of how it should go
Rather than stepping back
Being quiet
Accepting what IS at this moment
What is good in this moment
Even if it is but the smallest detail.
It's hard when the rush of life comes at you like a stormy sea
To stop and see it all as continuity
Each drop linked to each drop
Even to the quiet and stillness of the deep.