Another year is closing,
And the New will blaze itself in,
Looking over my life’s long shadow,
Nostalgia clouds like a summer fog.
There was the time my kid boy love
And I got stuck downtown,
He held me to him in his coat,
Waiting in snow for a stranded bus.
Warmed by adventure and youth.


There were those I spent alone,
The family nestled snug,
Sleepily waiting for that ball
To fall while firecrackers popped,
And I, my head dropped
Upon my beating chest.


Remember I when my
Mature love and I danced to
“At Last” on the record player,
Norman Luboff’s choir or
Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians,
Roamed through late night air,
As did romance.


I lost my dear old friend this year,
I made him black-eyed peas,
He in his house, I in mine,
Warm in our friendship,
And bits of smoked ham,
We checked on each other’s lights,
In the night.


This year we may take comfort,
Most of our soldiers are home,
Let New Year’s eve be prayerful,
That they find peace,
That we find peace,
In the new.