The first hours of a new year grin
at prayer requests tucked into little envelopes
sealed with saliva of resolutions and hope
A thanksgiving song swells in your chest
its notes weighted by tears of the grieving
silenced by misfortunes of the year past
But you made it
you still have your voice
The wicked ladies Katrina and Rita
did not wash you away like sin
An American marine did not shoot you
like a dog in the streets of Iraq or Afghanistan
An Iraqi insurgent fighting the wrong enemy
did not blow you up at a job line in Baghdad
The fools of July 7 did not get you in a London tube
A British police officer did not feed you
lead pellets at Stockwell Station
You were not caught dead
in a Bellview or Sosoliso bird
A plastic surgeon’s knife
did not cut off your air supply
and your lungs work
because you quit smoking years ago.
Best of all, you did not allow alcohol
the pleasure of spiriting you away.
Welcome to 2006,
Make it a year that all your dreams come true
Be here in 2007 to celebrate
a 2006 of good fortune and blessings
Nnorom Azuonye
January 1, 2006
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