My soul asked for a story

about this long and tempest year

of the change and changing

as December disappears

But maybe best not worded

Said and yet not said

Typed with font that fades away

never to be read

With silver glass and diamond edge
moments glazed and jeweled
mirrors and reflections
joy and sadness pooled

Paired with a thesaurus
rhyming with white dress
Teenage hopes and college loves
one step from emptiness

Of garden dreams and picnic plates
plastic knives not meant for cutting
a geneology of apple trees
both lingering and rushing

Photographic blips on screens
electronic, captured swiftly
theatrics of the master plan
mapped out in the sixties

Of chemical experiments
breaking inner rings
one neutral, one electric
on nucleic wings

Promises and the promised
Feats real and envisioned
remembering and reminding
decisioned and divisioned

Of filters, fate, and purity
now needed for existence
the digital and the analog
numbers to be outdistanced

Violins and pianos
young strings rich and taut
the foundation of the orchestra
one performer and one taught

Barbie dolls and gypsy shows
with Starbucks in between
rainbow cones and pistachios
blonde and sweet sixteen

Of faux cowboys at Jackson hole
Boone and Buck and Starr
speckled trout and ice cold streams
recharged leyden jars

And the sisterhood, a tour de force
of storms and wind and thunder
our collection of raison d'être
a source of strength and wonder

And as this year passes by
iceberg deep and chill
we look ahead and breathe a breath
and thank God is with us still

#year end

As December disappears