End or Beginning?

Posted on December 1, 2017 by

Written for:  Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads – A Skyflower Friday: Goodbye
(posted by Kerry)

As another year comes to its natural conclusion, it may be time for some goodbyes – some important part of yourself may have to be left behind in 2017 or perhaps there is cause for a pruning of old, dead weight to make way for new growth and opportunities which lie ahead. Very few of us can say goodbye without regret or some measure of pain. I would like you to use these ideas as a springboard for your poem today.

Each new year
is the death
of an old one.
At year’s end
people will say,
‘boy, am I glad
to say goodbye
to this year.’
They shrug
their shoulders
of boulders they have
carried, a weight
they feel
they can shake off
in one day.

http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/

About purplepeninportland

I am a freelance poet, born and bred in Brooklyn, New York. I live with my husband, John, and two charming rescue dogs–Marion Miller and Murphy. We spent eight lovely years in Portland, OR, but are now back in New York. My goal is to create and share poetry with others who write, or simply enjoy reading poetry. I hope to touch a nerve in you, and feel your sparks as well.
This entry was posted in Purple's Home and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

23 Responses to End or Beginning?

  1. Magaly Guerrero says:
    December 1, 2017 at 3:22 am

    Every ending is a new beginning, they say. I hope this year comes with a good shaking… and a lot of room to begin again.

    Like

  2. Kerry O'Connor says:
    December 1, 2017 at 4:36 am

    Not so easy to rid oneself of those boulders, but it feels possible at the end of a year.

    Like

  3. Brendan says:
    December 1, 2017 at 10:34 am

    How heavy our burdens would be without a door of a day leading out of each year! Yet how is it that the gold gets mixed in with the trash we leave behind?

    Like

  4. sanaarizvi says:
    December 1, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Indeed, each new year signifies a new beginning as we say goodbye to the old. Those last lines pack a lot of emotion and truth.

    Like

  5. Laura Bloomsbury says:
    December 1, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    crisply constructed to denote that shrug – clever!

    Like

  6. Sherry Blue Sky says:
    December 1, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    I am especially glad to say goodbye to 2017, one of the worst years ever, on the political scene, and HOPE 2018 will be better.

    Like

  7. Björn Rudberg (brudberg) says:
    December 1, 2017 at 9:50 pm

    To start with a clean slate means hope… maybe we need to look at every day that way

    Like

  8. Susie Clevenger (@wingsobutterfly) says:
    December 1, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    There are some years that feel much heavier than others.

    Like

  9. Rommy says:
    December 2, 2017 at 12:47 am

    Ha! The last couple of years need more than just one day of simple shaking. I think I need 48 hours of intense shimmying.

    Like

  10. Jim says:
    December 2, 2017 at 5:00 am

    I like this, Sarah. It likens to teaching, if we messed up and didn’t do so well there is always a new crop of students for which we could do better. Before I changed jobs work was very stressful. Messing up could cause a slip in the spacecraft launch. Heads role then.

    Like

  11. mhmp77 says:
    December 2, 2017 at 10:24 am

    kaykuala

    a weight they feel
    they can shake off
    in one day

    Very true Sara. There had not been much that one could be thankful for in 2017. Given the political and economic scene it could not be much improvement to expect next year either.

    Hank

    Like

Comments are closed.