The First Easy Breath- 2019 Poems

New Years

They say the ball dropped

But we didn't care

We were too busy creating our own victories & yelling at our losses to notice.

And it felt like a good hug

We all cheers to the soundtrack of cannon fire while bombs of color explode in the sky lighting up our hopes for the future and raining down ash over the things of the past we have laid to rest.

We maneuver ourselves through the persistent attempts of panhandling pups.

And stain our tastebuds with delicious debauchery.

I missed you a little.

Different scenarios played out like a flipbook through my mind of what or who you might be with tonight.

But the laughter always held my hand and kept me present with such gripping interest

I swear it was another world.

That sacred frozen moment where we collectively feel joy -

even in the loneliness, & the damage yet to be assessed.

We collectively inhale and exhale "yay" for a brief second.

With gratitude and nostalgia, we celebrate, despite the turmoil & taunting that come in the next breath, in the next blink.

There is one moment of universal joy when midnight first arrives.

I am happy to have been apart of it at all.