By Ric Hudgens (right)

This is the year that reveals every “new” year
for the empty symbol it is. Useful for keeping
records, filing documents or measuring our
annual rate of growth, twelve months merely
marks another planetary lap around the sun.
That is all it means. So make some whoopie
if you want, but something has to finish before
the new begins. It’s still not over. The lying
doesn’t end here, but neither does the truth.
Thousands more, someone you never expected,
will die, things hidden will be revealed, and,
dependably, we will learn of goodness abiding
despite. Hold your friends close (we know who
they are now), and keep your enemies
in view. Our tumult continues, and justice
requires a longer arc. I am stuck in the middle
with you. 2020 disappears in the small print.
Our vision may never be so clear again.

By Ric Hudgens

By Ric Hudgens

Fours years ago, I come down for breakfast to find my housemate tutoring her six-year-old daughter: Agitate! Educate! Organize!

Nod your head and acknowledge
your fear when it sits down
at breakfast some morning.

Fear is our necessary friend
watching our world
with wakeful eyes.