Happy New Year

Last night I ventured out into the cold
to see the stars in the blackest sky
amateur fireworks burst here and there
the popular color being green, lime green

off the shoulder of Orion, I thought

like tears in rain

I thought

the sad companion left behind
with his woes

with his dreams of women

surgically enhanced women

and his foolishness

He just doesn't get it

thinks it's all written on the outside

an open book

if the proportions cohere

I thought

and his grief just makes me tired

(compassion being quite inconvenient at times)


and I thought of my own foolishness
and avoidance of resolutions
other than digital images
which are the only ones that count to me now
that speak to me


I'm planning a trek
across the part of my country
between here and California
parts I have never seen except in photos
and movies
I'll bring along my dog and my cameras
and a cell phone and a laptop
and a nutritional system of my own devising
no tent, just an SUV

I could be dreaming, but the idea
could really grow on me
could become more possible
with each passing day

There was a time I felt a constant companion
but that entity checks in with me less often now
and I keep hoping

hoping

hoping

that when the time is right

I'll see the light

and hear the music

and dance. . .