Author: Elizabeth Maynard

This year slow-turning
lifts and folds upon itself
to make us all new

Facing myself now
is freedom, is light breaking
after a long night

Begin this new day
open to the joy that finds
every willing heart

I know about this
bend before you break business
but I can't fold more

You gave me a clock
no better way to remind
this will never last

This morning broken
light spills across the valley
warms a budding hope

A thousand small things
vie for my attention here
but only you last

Something unfolds
unfurls itself in me
every knot I tied
slowly loosens
contraction welcomes
leisurely expansion
vigilance surrenders
to healing sleep

From now on
I'll walk under ladders
open umbrellas indoors
throw myself in the path
of every black cat
My careful ways
led me far astray
I'll try some other luck
some other life

I think I am behind on this
and a thousand poems
I could have written
had I woken up sooner