Poem: Ode to the New Year

Ode to the New Year

Here’s to the sound of popping bottles

And loud intoxication.

Here’s to kisses and laughter

And tears and wailing.

Here’s a toast to all that can be hoped,

And to naïve blindness.

Here’s to the fathers and mothers

Whose prayers a stork might answer.

Here’s to the unlovable,

May your heart be nurtured.

Here’s to the sinner,

A clean slate to flout.

Here’s to the hops and barley

And all the other good things.

Here’s to you and me,

May we be more than we are slated to become.

"SAKABAKA"