© January 2012
Shed the hardened skin of the old year.
Take a pumice stone to the welts that remain.
Balance the heart's annual accounts.
Credit the love received and give it back
With interest. Then debit the slights
And the indifference by writing them off
As bad debts of the past imperfect.
Here is the plan for the New Year:
Count the heart's coinage daily and be glad;
The loving glance, the hand outstretched,
The laughter shared, the skim of lip on cheek,
The wordless language of hope and joy.
Find them, tingling in the present tense.
