Wow…it’s already 2025…
Yet my brain still feels like 2020
Is shifting into a winter’s breeze
Welcoming us into a New Year’s kiss
And a hopeful embrace hidden in the folds
Of snowy blankets stretching out once again… I wonder

Will this year be kinder to us?

The onslaught of tears pool in my eyes
My throat tightens, and my hands grow cold
Yet they won’t fall.
…because you wouldn’t want that…
Locking myself in the past would do me no good.

I can hear you now…
“You’re a writer, aren’t you?”
…Telling me to write about it. (Is this what you meant?)

I remember you asking me
for a new story (I’ll get to it…I swear!) …
Just like you once asked me for longer hair…
To take better care of myself…
And to see what you saw in me…

You amazed me…
Your warm smile, generous heart
And brightening soul…accepting me without an ounce
of your blood running through my veins.

I’ll take your words to heart
And start believing in myself
Just like you did until
I see what you see within
The mirror you gave me.

And yeah…I might as well try to finish that novel.
It’s 2025 after all…new year, new me?
Hopefully, I’ll believe in myself enough
To submit it this time
Just for you, so I can grow…
To be at least a bit like you come 2026
That is my goal.