it has been too long since i was the person who heard this as a pre-teen. it feels like the nostalgia is bourbon, hitting my jaw with warmth before it slides down in a sigh of memory. “let us turn our thoughts” brings me to old hopes and dreams. “there are ties between us” spreads love throughout me. “by the task that stands before us” reminds me it’s definitely not too late.
May the sun shine brighter upon you every morning.
May the light of day bring you joy and the colors of twilight bring you peace.
May the sweetness of honey and the gladness of wine color your cheeks.
May the winter snow remind you of how beautiful and still the world can be.
May the sharp, hot days make you feel more alive.
May the choices you make bring you closer to the person you want to be.
May the next hair product you buy be the best experiment you’ve ever conducted.
May the family you have and the family you choose knit together in a tapestry too strong to break.
May the cape and tiara you wear in your dreams become realities.
May the wishes you make match the blessings you have.
May the goals you give yourself be attainable.
May the taste of nostalgia only flavor your memories, rather than supplanting them.
May the rose of your glasses stay merry and bright.
May the next lipstick you try finally be the perfect shade of fire-engine red.
May the people you love grow larger in your heart, larger than you imagine they could.
May the memories you make all be moments you’ll never forget.
May the vegetables you eat taste more like cheese than green.
May the dust never settle anywhere but in your wake.
May the promise of tomorrow give you hope but never outweigh the sweetness of today.
And most of all, may this next year beat the tar out of last.
I cry for the future, for the past, for the time
That I skinned my knee and it was
A big deal
That I could measure my relationships
On a ruler
Not with fuzzy missed memories
I cry for the past, for the present, for the time
When I knew who I wanted to be when I grew up and when
“When I grew up” was
Really a time
I wanted to know
I cry for the day, the minute, the hour when he
Took his last breath, when she
Decided it wasn’t worth it, when they
Couldn’t hold on any longer, when he
Didn’t get to choose, when she
Lost her will, when they
Turned away and
Waved their last goodbye
I cry for the future because maybe it
Is that
I don’t actually believe I can
Change it.
I cry for the future because maybe it
Is the only
Possible thing that
I could change.
I cry for past because it is
Full of dizzy pain memory that
I can’t get back
I can only rewrite with
The best of intentions
And a splash of hubris with a
Taste of intentional humility
I cry for today because it hurts to lose
Life
Even of someone who’s no longer close when he
Was a strand of the fabric of
Childhood
And it unravels
Which is scary.
you can buy it. like, for real. they let me do this. the internet lets people do things like this. GLORY BE.
(click on the fo-to. or also here. or if you’re going to be all cranky about it, fine: http://skreened.com/ohthatmeredith/praise.)
DUDES.
