Paean to the New Year
- Surviving Breast Cancer
- Jan 2
- 1 min read
By William Laferriere
Last year thins to a thread
barely holding the weight of what was
receipts tossed unceremoniously in a drawer
messages (and emails) unanswered
the dull echo of old arguments
still hum in the corners of the mind
Hands move through pockets, closets and folders
sifting, discarding, forgiving by inches
the past now reduced to paper dust and stale, salt free air
windows opened in the middle of winter
to let the cold cut through all that lingers
There is a moment
quiet as a new dawn
when the clock has not yet turned
and everything that might happen
Anxiously leans forward at the threshold
No fireworks yet
just the soft machinery of the heart
rebooting, blood coursing through supple veins
saying yes again
to a world that has not yet promised anything
but keeps arriving anyway
Boxes of old plans kicked to the curb
shoulders loosen
the spine remembers how to stand taller
it feels like starting a book
without knowing the title
only that the pages are blank
as the pen fits firmly in your hand
In this thinly lit space
between what’s done and what’s beginning
time feels elastic
infinite in all directions
every choice a small door
swinging open into rooms
you have not yet imagined
The year ahead waits
unwritten, unashamed of its uncertainty
and somehow that is the gift
No guarantees
only the wild, unnerving freedom
to become someone new
one quiet decision at a time
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