THE GIFT OF YEARS

I look back at the year that’s passed,
A few less sorrows there for me,
I found it calmer than one’s past…
A less contemptuous angry sea.

The one in which I’ll soon embark,
I know not what is waiting me,
I’ve lived through years of deepest pain
And ones of sunshine without rain.

A see a new slate each New Year,
One still unmarred yet by my tears,
And yet I keep in memory,
My gone by tears as souvenirs.

Bright horizons may await me…
Or darkened skies may be my fate,
A brand-new road be forged upon…
One filled with rocks or smooth as slate.

I won’t make those resolutions,
Ones broken by an untamed will,
I’ll live each day of this New Year,
Knowing my life’s now all down hill.

Aging has a way of showing,
Life’s fleeting fast without a care,
Each year of life, a treasured gift
And one I see that passes swift.

I thank my God for this New Year,
That may hold sunshine or my tears,
I’ll cross the seas and jagged stone,
But won’t anticipate their jeers.

I face each day with this in mind,
I’m never granted one more year.