“And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
A THRESHOLD
To bless the year we live in
is to receive its blessings.
Nothing can be contained
but everything can run through us
with a river’s constancy.
Rapids of fresh graces
to renew
our inner springs.
Winds of mercies
blowing out the cobwebs
and airing out our rooms.
The mind’s dusty corners,
and the hearts
defended places,
swept with air
as clear as the new year’s
dawn.
To bless the year we open
is to unwrap its fortune.
A thousand different colours,
shapes and forms
yet to encounter.
Not resenting or deflecting
but asking ourselves,
‘What is this I’m holding?’
Treasures found in unforeseen places,
stones that might
be worth more than they look.
Griefs that carve out beauty
hitherto not imagined,
spaces to then fill with more of our joy.
Part of the joy
is anticipating
what is coming.
Standing by the threshold
and then opening.
Ana Lisa de Jong
New Years Day 2018
Living Tree Poetry 