happy new year

one of my very favorite poems:

HAPPY NEW YEAR
by Maya Angelou

“Not all we carry need enter…”
there is a banquet of Hosannas in
the air.
The bells are a-clamor, chimes have been loosed,
We have
endured endless peaks of pain
and valleys of loneliness;
We have lost
beloveds we could not live without;
yet we have lived.
We have
encountered unforgivable cruelty;
yet we have forgiven.
Yet we have been
forgiven.
We have survived, flourished, and thrived
with passion,
compassion, humor and style.
We have been fortunate and worthy.
Now we
stand, heavy laden, before a great gate
which leads to the rest of all time.
It swings ajar, and we know at this critical moment
that not all we
carry
need enter when we enter.
We can evict hate and scorn from our
souls;
we can open clenched fists,
and let bigotry, malice and enmity
fall back down the slope to yesterday.
We can lay down our burden of
violence
and step lightly over the lintel
into a vernal and newly-minted
tomorrow—
We, who never saw a new century;
we, who never saw a new one
thousand years,
can join the hallelujah, the hymns,
the paeans, the
voices all over the world.
We can shout or whisper,
scream or mumble:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!