New Years Party
In the waking minutes of a new year
a fantasy draws near fulfillment
-and is interrupted.
Tonight
I have sat at your feet
and longed, longed to touch you.
I have smiled teasingly into your eyes
and noticed that I held your gaze
for moments that suspended time.
I have taken your hands,
kissed your lips,
wondered about you infinitely-
and at this hour
I am left
wishing desperately
for more time with you,
because now
I can only imagine
what might have happened
and whether I will touch you again.
New Years are a Chance for a Beginning
New years are a chance for a beginning
Even when there hasn’t been an end.
Wheels turn in an interminable bend,
Yet, marked in one spot, seem to wobble spinning.
Each year we hope to do a little better
Although we know that really nothing’s changed.
Reason thinks that everything’s arranged,
Send New Year PoemsSo we must dream if we would fate unfetter.
Harbingers of Happiness, Awake!
Harbingers of happiness, awake!
And dreams abandoned, return from restless sleep!
Past hopes, whom bitter wanderers forsake,
Promise once again what will might reap!
Years turn and turn, at each new turn reborn,
New imagined by redeemers new,
Each in turn vouchsafed a festive dawn,
Wind driven towards a sky of darker hue.
Yearning is of innocence a cause,
Embracing with delight what ought to be,
As once a year even truth takes pause,
Reflecting on what other eyes might see.
A New Year’s Plea
Lord, let me stand in the thick of the fight, Let me bear what I must without whining;
Grant me the wisdom to do what is right,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.
Let me be true as the steel of a blade,
Make me bigger than skillful or clever;
Teach me to cling to my best, unafraid,
And harken to false gospels, never.
Let me be brave when the burden is great,
Faithful when wounded by sorrow;
Teach me, when troubled, with patience to wait
The better and brighter to-morrow.
Spare me from hatred and envy and shame,
Open my eyes to life’s beauty;
Let not the glitter of fortune or fame
Blind me to what is my duty.
Let me be true to myself to the end,
Let me stand to my task without whining;
Let me be right as a man, as a friend,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.
Edgar Guest