The End Of A Year

A Reflection of 2013

It was a year of days,
of memories encapsuled
by frames of wake and fall asleep,
of moments made precious
by being relived,
of stories waiting to be told.

It was a year of big stories
and everyday stories:
the day of the bear
and the day of the fish,
days of paddling
on rivers and lakes,
through easy currents
and rolling waves,

days of driving
into Appalachia,
up to the Iron Range,
across Indiana
and all over Chicago,
and trips up to the folk's farm,

days of running
through the heat and
in the cold,
on the treadmill
and on marked courses,
at my own pace
and alongside others,

days of beer and Scrabble,
days of PADS, Habitat
and Feed My Starving Children,
days of work and working together,
days of rest and play

days I stood up to speak
and days I stood by to watch and listen,
days of tears
and days of hugging
and a few of loneliness,

teh day I fixed a fence gate,
the days I finished a floor,
days of cooking,
days of restaurants,
days of poetry
and days of Ravinia,

a day or two for my daughter,
a day or two from my son,
days of airports and days of hotels,
days of family in North Dakota,
in Wisconsin, Minnesota
and Illinois.

days caught up in news cycles,
days of getting news of our own,
days of great. distant tragedies
and days of a great, fallen hero,
days of meditation,
peace and quiet,

a day of reading with the
world spinning around me,
the days of Blackhawk victories
and days of baseball games,
a day at PNC Park,
another at Busch Stadium,

days of council meetings
and fencing tournaments
and talent shows,
homework days, deadline days,
overtime days
and blessed days off,

days of living together
and days of needing to be apart,
days of looking into the future,
days appreciating the present
and days, like today,
looking back,

days, not often enough,
I took time to pray,
days, every day in its own way,
I celebrated,

a life of days
with time marked
by anniversaries
and calendar moments,
and now is the time
to mark this year of days

and to give thanks
for each new wake and fall asleep.


not previously published