A Poem For The New Year

I am not a poet. I love poetry; I enjoy reading it and have the highest respect for masters of this art however because of this, I cannot ever claim to be a poet. I struggle with rules, rhymes and meter and while I have been educated by two of the finest universities in the South, my grammar often returns to its rural Georgian roots. With all that said, this “poem” came to me while I was driving from Winston-Salem, North Carolina back to Atlanta for a New Year’s Eve party in the city. I found the message to be personally challenging and would like to share it with you. Again, please remember that I am not a poet. I know that these words have probably broken several rules of poetry and that my former literature professors would be outraged. Still, I hope that you hear and enjoy these words and allow them to inspire you to make life in 2010 a little better than in years the past.


2010

New years come as the old years go,
Through the spring, summer, autumn, and snow.
A thousand promises left unkept,
And resolutions all but met.
Millions pray for a slate washed clean,
For all the things they have not seen.
And liberation from the wake,
Of all the risks they did not take.
To make the world a better place,
Perhaps less fallen from their grace.
Our New Year truth shall always be,
We know not our humanity.
Failed this world to show brothers love,
And help one another rise above.
The constant drive to live in hate,
Through constant needs to debate,
All our basic necessities,
To love, and live, and stay happy.
You! Yes you can alter man’s fate!
Answer the call, and do not wait!
For another year come and go,
Now is the time to let love grow.
Out of a past filled with mistake,
And all the choices we failed to make.
Deny thyself and bear his load,
It is a straight and narrow road.
Filled with love and power alike,
Only then will we know what’s right!
Rise and leave where you have been,
The masses stirring; awaken!


Happy New Year!

ACG