The End of 2024

I thought I had chosen the side of light,

of the enlightened,

but darkness sought me,

overwhelmed me-

I thought all was lost,

all that I had believed was false,

all light was now and forever extinguished.

Then, one bird sang,

one beam of sunlight danced

on the crenelated bark of a tree,

one small breeze kissed my face,

one blossom opened, one frog harrumphed.

At the pond, one duck swam, one fish jumped,

In the meadow, grass bent to the wind,

and in the woods, the owl asked its

eternal question.

All around me life hummed, thrummed, lived itself

with hope, with fervor, with insistence.

Day, as always, gave way to night,

one star sparked high up in the dark,

and I, witnessing,

knew it was I who had abandoned myself,

doubted hope, surrendered to fear.

In that one moment,

I chose light.