New Year's Day

It was a rare day to remember -
warm Winter Sun was gushing from above;
although the orb was low, I felt its rays
brush my pallid visage with a kiss.
Nature was saying "No surrender",
defiantly defending human love
with clarity that shines through shortened days
embodying the spirit of a wish:

A wish that’s like the waving fronds of time
encompassing the future and the past,
confusing fantasy with what is real -
bold images within a vivid dream,
constrained within an ancient paradigm
that ebbs and flows and fades away at last,
until there's nothing left to touch or feel,
like ripples on a never ending stream.

On this, the first day of the New Year
we set out with hope the future to face
anticipating nature's bold delight
as wrapped we ourselves in barren beauty.
To trembling hearts the day bade good cheer,
encouraging us to lengthen our pace
and draw ourselves up to our fullest height
as though we owed creation a duty.

Birds were beginning to practise their song -
the robin already was in full voice -
quince was in flower by the warm stone wall
and Spring seemed but merely a week away.
Imagined swallows swooped the way along -
champagne was drunk with delicacies of choice -
we felt a healthy glow as night began to fall
and, home at last, we'd known a perfect day.