Burning the Old Year

©2014“Bittersweet” by Ursula I. Abresch posted with kind permission

 Burning the Old Year

BY NAOMI SHIHAB NYE

Letters swallow themselves in seconds.  

Notes friends tied to the doorknob,  

transparent scarlet paper,

sizzle like moth wings,

marry the air.

So much of any year is flammable,  

lists of vegetables, partial poems.  

Orange swirling flame of days,  

so little is a stone.

Where there was something and suddenly isn’t,  

an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.  

I begin again with the smallest numbers.

Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,  

only the things I didn’t do  

crackle after the blazing dies.
--Naomi Shihab Nye

New Year’s Buddhist Metta Prayer

May you  be well, happy and safe.
May you be free from suffering and at ease with pain.
May you live in peace and harmony with all beings.

May you accept with understanding and wisdom the events in your life and world.May you forgive others and yourself for the inevitable harms we cause each other.
May you experience and manifest loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.

Peace and Light in 2022

About The Photographer: Ursula I. Abresch

Ursula is a photographer in the West Kootenays, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. She was born in Argentina, raised in both Argentina and Chile. She moved to the USA to attend university, and eventually moved permanently to Canada. Ursula is married. She and her husband have five children. She has a degree in Education with a concentration in Art and History. She now dedicates most of her time to photography. (information taken from her website directly).