Happy New Year, everyone! I didn’t make it to my own midnight, but I did watch a lovely livestream of northern lights over Iceland as their 2025 arrived, complete with stirring orchestral music. Here’s what came out of that.
Beautiful! My friend just got me into watching YouTube day-in-the-life videos of a person living in Svalbard who can see the aurora in the morning for part of the year because it's so dark.
This is splendnid Rebekah! A perfect poem for the turning of a year. I loive the Nortehrn Lights, and I imagine the spectacle in Iceland is quite grand. I love your second stanza:
while we on the ground/recast steps already taken/and wonder at/those wavelengths/not yet visible/but surely coming.
Wow, Billy! Thank you for putting a smile on my face. I've been a little checked out from Substack (okay, a lot checked out) for the past week and a half or maybe it's two weeks, and it feels so good to come back and get caught up and be surrounded, always, with so much warmth, talent, and generosity. I hope your year is off to a beautiful start!
Lisa, what an interesting and thought provoking poem. I like that it came quickly after a walk and experiencing nature in its mindfulness and immediacy. I love the prompt. It is do rich and full of depth snd breadth, and I am grateful to walk into the new year with it. I am equally grateful to walk into the uncertainty of this new year with your poetry, prompting and power occupying my heart! ❤️ Happy New Year!
Perhaps it wasn't as immediate as this, but I picture your toddler waking up laughing, and I love that idea so much! Has he been sick? If so, I hope he's doing better by now!
It wasn't as immediate as that this time, but both he and his sister have done that, and it's my favourite thing. He had a fever for a few days and had woken up from a late, long nap and was a little miserable until Sybil made him laugh. He's back to normal now! 😊
I no longer wish others a happy holiday or happy new year. We all know that this new year will be very difficult for anyone looking at human existence for what it is.
Instead, if I were into wishes—which is an expression of hope to help mute reality—I would wish everyone the endurance and strength to experience life for what it is without poisoning one’s own consciousness with resentment, hate, righteousness. None of us are RIGHT. None of us are WRONG.
May you not wage a war against your old self in a crusade of plenary indulgence seeking a new self with New Year’s resolutions that may defeat a metaphorical Jerusalem at the expense of a genocide against your old self.
_——————————————
May your poetry be the ship that helps you navigate through turbulent waters.
Thanks for this, Jim. I really appreciate the reminder that resentment and even “righteousness” are self-administered poison, and that “None of us are RIGHT. None of us are WRONG.”
I love the honesty and kindness of the intentions you express here! "None of us are RIGHT. None of us are WRONG." I wish you (and all of us) endurance and strength for the year ahead, as well as compassion for the entire timeline of your being!
I’m afraid of the electric and gas bills to come. No!!! 😂. I found a Substacker who is living in a cabin in a remote northern area-4 ft of snow-chopping her own wood for heat. Part of me would love to be doing that.
Thank you, Stefano! It’s intentional in the sense that I did what felt right for my eye and ear, but I wasn’t systematic about it in any way, and the poems I share are usually first drafts, so if I take another pass at this one, I’ll likely tweak some things.
I think you said it right here: "My deepest intention for the year ahead is to live with my eyes and heart wide open—and that is bound to mean all kinds of weather." There is definitely some trepidation about what the year might hold here in the US but also a great deal to look forward to. I have to hold both.
"I have to hold both" - I feel like those are true words for just about every circumstance. There's always more than one true thing, more than one perspective worthy of our attention. Somehow that ability to hold two (or three or ten) seemingly conflicting things at once feels so central to being human.
I felt like I was right there on the coast with you, Larry! You paint the scene so vividly. I especially love the third stanza - trying to discern between anxiety and hope and then this impermanent flash of color that followed, "winking at me as the new year knocks." Beautiful! I hope your year is filled with color.
my companions
are the Wrens
my friend
is the lens
through which
they teach me
Lovely! What better companion could there be than birds?
Happy New Year, everyone! I didn’t make it to my own midnight, but I did watch a lovely livestream of northern lights over Iceland as their 2025 arrived, complete with stirring orchestral music. Here’s what came out of that.
.
On Livestreaming the Turnaround in Grindavik
.
Bittersweet strings wail
hello and goodbye
through curtains that hint
at one color, then the next,
.
while we on the ground
recast steps already taken
and wonder at
those wavelengths
not yet visible
but surely coming.
This is wonderful, and now you have me wanting to watch northern lights videos!
Beautiful! My friend just got me into watching YouTube day-in-the-life videos of a person living in Svalbard who can see the aurora in the morning for part of the year because it's so dark.
Nice Rebekah. Bittersweet. Always a good word for any description of life. I’d love to see the Northern lights in person some day.
This is splendnid Rebekah! A perfect poem for the turning of a year. I loive the Nortehrn Lights, and I imagine the spectacle in Iceland is quite grand. I love your second stanza:
while we on the ground/recast steps already taken/and wonder at/those wavelengths/not yet visible/but surely coming.
A wonderful encapsulation of a new year coming
Both feet are dug in
Leaving heel tracks in the dirt
Is this year my last?
No way, friend! Too many poems yet to be written!
I'm with Larry! The world still needs lots more of you in it!
A Poem For Lisa
Life changing
Purposeful
Diligent
Caring
She
Gathers
Thoughtful
And diverse
Lovers of words
Through her
Substack
Always
Kind
Joy
Lifts
Among
All of us
Who have
Stumbled onto
Her beautiful path
Wow, Billy! Thank you for putting a smile on my face. I've been a little checked out from Substack (okay, a lot checked out) for the past week and a half or maybe it's two weeks, and it feels so good to come back and get caught up and be surrounded, always, with so much warmth, talent, and generosity. I hope your year is off to a beautiful start!
Truly appreciate your efforts. Not easy to do what you do. And so well.
❤️❤️❤️
NIce homage to our wonderful guide and leader!
She’s pretty awesome.
You guys are making me blush.
Lisa, what an interesting and thought provoking poem. I like that it came quickly after a walk and experiencing nature in its mindfulness and immediacy. I love the prompt. It is do rich and full of depth snd breadth, and I am grateful to walk into the new year with it. I am equally grateful to walk into the uncertainty of this new year with your poetry, prompting and power occupying my heart! ❤️ Happy New Year!
And I am so grateful to walk into this new year with YOU, friend, and with this space for sharing, creating, and connecting!
A belly laugh, erupting from the mouth of
my too-warm toddler, freshly woken from
his too-long nap, as he watches his sister.
We'll be ringing in the new year quietly, but
in the meantime, this is welcome noise.
Perhaps it wasn't as immediate as this, but I picture your toddler waking up laughing, and I love that idea so much! Has he been sick? If so, I hope he's doing better by now!
It wasn't as immediate as that this time, but both he and his sister have done that, and it's my favourite thing. He had a fever for a few days and had woken up from a late, long nap and was a little miserable until Sybil made him laugh. He's back to normal now! 😊
I'm so glad he's back to normal again! And that he has a big sis to make him laugh. ❤️
Happy New Year A!
Happy new year, Larry! 🧡
No poem from me today. However, a thought:
A new year
I no longer wish others a happy holiday or happy new year. We all know that this new year will be very difficult for anyone looking at human existence for what it is.
Instead, if I were into wishes—which is an expression of hope to help mute reality—I would wish everyone the endurance and strength to experience life for what it is without poisoning one’s own consciousness with resentment, hate, righteousness. None of us are RIGHT. None of us are WRONG.
May you not wage a war against your old self in a crusade of plenary indulgence seeking a new self with New Year’s resolutions that may defeat a metaphorical Jerusalem at the expense of a genocide against your old self.
_——————————————
May your poetry be the ship that helps you navigate through turbulent waters.
Thanks for this, Jim. I really appreciate the reminder that resentment and even “righteousness” are self-administered poison, and that “None of us are RIGHT. None of us are WRONG.”
Happy New Year Jim, sent with best of intentions. Thank you for sharing powerful insights.
I love the honesty and kindness of the intentions you express here! "None of us are RIGHT. None of us are WRONG." I wish you (and all of us) endurance and strength for the year ahead, as well as compassion for the entire timeline of your being!
Great poem Lisa. You’ve been missed.
I’m afraid of the electric and gas bills to come. No!!! 😂. I found a Substacker who is living in a cabin in a remote northern area-4 ft of snow-chopping her own wood for heat. Part of me would love to be doing that.
Part of me would love to be doing that, too! But alas, probably not my spine, unless there's an electric wood splitter involved.
Beautiful images and picture!
Is the metric and line structure intentional?
Thank you, Stefano! It’s intentional in the sense that I did what felt right for my eye and ear, but I wasn’t systematic about it in any way, and the poems I share are usually first drafts, so if I take another pass at this one, I’ll likely tweak some things.
I think you said it right here: "My deepest intention for the year ahead is to live with my eyes and heart wide open—and that is bound to mean all kinds of weather." There is definitely some trepidation about what the year might hold here in the US but also a great deal to look forward to. I have to hold both.
"I have to hold both" - I feel like those are true words for just about every circumstance. There's always more than one true thing, more than one perspective worthy of our attention. Somehow that ability to hold two (or three or ten) seemingly conflicting things at once feels so central to being human.
I agree and it seems in such short supply these days, that ability to hold more than one thing and find common ground.
A poem for the new year written from a walk on the beach on New Year's Eve.
One More Day
^
Last day walk along northern coastline,
winter waves beckoning the hearty and the hopeful,
smooth and clean in their breaking,
a long ride that only takes minutes.
^
In the sky is a cloud painting,
billowing white streaked with light
A slanted cross forming in deep blue sky
looming high above the year that was.
^
Trying to discern between anxiety and hope,
I notice a small flash of color in one of the cloud arms
a rainbow square peeking out from the covers
winking at me as the new year knocks.
^
This patch of color eventually blended away,
incisive reminder of the impermanence of our being,
how flowers bloom even after the coldest winter,
of how dreams rise from the ashes of our tattered lives.
I felt like I was right there on the coast with you, Larry! You paint the scene so vividly. I especially love the third stanza - trying to discern between anxiety and hope and then this impermanent flash of color that followed, "winking at me as the new year knocks." Beautiful! I hope your year is filled with color.
Thank you Lisa! I’ll send you a photo of the sky on Tuesday on our walk! I hope to see many rainbows, teal and metaphorical, in this year to come!