On Thursday night,
as every year, the humans met in Times Square
Bringing their
alcohol blankets and their Instagram cameras
Dragging their
acquaintances and their maybe midnight kisses
Planning the stories
they would tell, the filters they would use, the lives they would portray
Gathering in the
mist of a year already half forgotten
Television networks
from Atlanta to Augusta warned of the rain as announcers from Augusta to
Atlanta thanked their hidden stars that they had only the rain to worry about.
They stared straight
at the camera, smiles unchanging.
Can you even
remember a New Year's Eve this warm, Charlie?
Absolutely not,
Donna. What a day.
Barely blinking.
I, too, traveled for
the holiday
Spent the six hour
trip to Raleigh writing to those I hoped would not forget me
Five letters in six
hours
I hope you're doing
well
My trip to Cape Town
in June was wonderful
I live in the city
now, I took the corporate job
My soul isn't gone
yet, I think
Ha ha
I've been
volunteering with the Girl Scouts
Teaching myself a
couple languages on the side
Rock climbing when I
can't find mountains
(and I never can)
I'm meeting people,
don't worry
Just this week
someone added me on LinkedIn
Have a delightful
New Year
Sincerely yours
Pragmatically yours?
Intentionally yours.
The Editorials and
the Lifestyle pages told of others' resolutions
Humans who promised
to run half a marathon, start a garden, tip higher, smile brighter
I, too, resolved
To get more involved
in the community, to read, to travel
All of us planning
not merely to do those things, but to become the sorts of people who would do
them
We went along like
that all fall and into the holidays
All of us
Feigning shock at
the weather
Speaking to friends
old and new, smiles unchanging
Telling of fireworks
and family
Barely blinking
Silently thankful
for climate change
And how the climate
changed
On Friday morning,
as every year, the ball fell
The temperature fell
The snow did not
fall for it was too cold for snow, so the sun shone right through to the frozen
puddles, as the remnants of last year's mist crystallized on oaks and concrete
By Monday, the
humans returned to work in two extra layers
Those who left last
year in light blazers and thin shoes arrived in defeat
Their faces too cold
to hide the shock of transition
A chill too severe
even for their best peacoats
Directors and middle
managers and interns hurried together
The wind reddening
all of their noses
Cutting their breath
indiscriminately
From the window of
the bus or of the office, I could only sit and admire
The honesty in the
all-too-clear air of a new year
Something charming
in the desperation of people whose typically-unchanging ensembles were
interrupted by thick scarves and silly knit hats
People who had
worked far too hard and far too long for it all to come to this
Whose names were too
well recognized to merit such mistreatment by so pedestrian a force
I cannot speak for
the others, for the success of their resolutions
But shocked into
January's honesty, I have to second guess my own
Wonder whether I
wanted to get involved or to make friends
To read or to sound
well read
To travel or to seem
adventurous
Had we all just
resolved to seem to become the sorts of people who would accomplish our grand
resolutions?
Maybe the clarity of
a new year was meant
To make us human
after all.
