2020,
You came in quietly,
Like a creaky floorboard.

You walked seamlessly
Into our lives,
Stepping out and around
The squeaky spots.

But, then you “mistepped,”
Missed one step,
And then another.

Until your noise
Was heard all over the house.

Across the globe,
Your domino effect,
Your torpedo-like quality
Took effect.

We all heard you.
We all heard the
Quality of your
Reverberation.

This year took us
On a wild ride.
One perhaps
We needed to go on,
One we were destined for.

But, one we maybe didn’t
Feel ready for.

Crowded stores
Became emptied vessels
Of faint whispers
And unheard voices.

Aisles of emptiness
Staring back at us,
Fear looming in the air.

It was all very strange,
And foreign,
Like being an alien on
A foreign planet,
Except this planet
Was much like the one
Seen in the movies now
In real life.

Many lost loved ones.
Many left this world
For another.

Endings and uncertain
Beginnings not yet
Seen surrounded us.

We were left with more
Questions than answers.

More time than we knew
What to do with it,
Other than rewatch Netflix,
In its entirety.

Tiger King this,
And Love is Blind that.
Yes, don’t judge,
You watched it too.

Some of us wrote books,
Started passion projects,
Some of us barely
Survived each day.

Telling a different tale
Of emotional terrain
And stage of the grief cycle.

Denial.
Denying our reality.

Anger.
Anger at…well everything.

Bargaining with time,
Energy, people, places, jobs.

Depression…
Maybe this one is still here,
After all.

Awwww Acceptance,
Comes in fleeting waves
Still.

Left with what?

Hope.

Hope that maybe,
Hope is all that’s left.

Hope that we didn’t
Grow through this year
For nothing.

We’re all a little
Haggard now,
Sweat pants wearing,
Window watching.

Wondering,
What will next year bring us?
More chaos or more peace?

We can’t say outwardly yet,
What will be,
As things are always in flux.

But perhaps,
We learned this year
That only we can shift,
And shape our outlook,
Our perspective.

To turn heavy weight
Of lead into gold,
To be the alchemist
We were born to be.

To be graceful with
The self still
Learning,
Always learning.

When to lean in,
And when to let go.

What was for us,
And what was only
Meant to teach us
More about who we are.

And remind us of
The magnificence of
That.

Of each step
We took,
Creaking,
Crawling,
Side stepping,
Tip-toeing less
Around who and
What we are.

Aligning deeper
With the self
Who knew it
Could survive this year.

And in that,
May we never forget
The lessons of grace
We learned this year.

Of beauty,
In simplicity,
Sweet connections,
Unexpected friendship,
New platforms to speak.

And walk away,
With less heaviness
Than when we entered.

More lightness to
Carry us forth
Into all
That is coming for us,

May we have
The courage to
Know it is
Ours to be with,
To settle into,
To find growth in.

And when time,
To let go
And trust the
Steps forward
Will appear
Each time,
We trust a little
Bit more.

Hats off,
Hearts forward,
Roots growing…

We stand
At the end
Of a new cycle,
Ready to begin again.