—PILOT COMES ON, SAYS THE YEAR IS ALMOST DONE.  FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE…

…It’s twenty to four and I’m still trying to find the moon.  No big surprise there.

…What do you prefer, that I not think about it at all?

…Looking back, there were a lot of things I could have done differently, but I’m not sorry at all about that.  I wouldn’t change a thing.

…This body is robed in the weight of things I cannot say.

…Every window’s open and the draught is coming in unbidden.

…Love is an immigrant--it shows itself in its work.  It works for almost nothing.

…Is that which appears so, so?  Or is it all flashes and specks?

…Who is this in the mirror?  Why won’t you love me?  Why won’t you let me be?

…I am always trying to bridge the difference between what I know and what I feel.  That’s why I often feel like a surgeon with a little bit of palsy.

…The gate’s not broken.  You just have to walk through it.

...Let’s face it, love and approval are in short supply.

…Some people are fighting for a better life, and you might call that heroic.

…I’m giving you my word.  There’s not a lot that’s worth much more than that these days, but a man’s word.

…Mining glory out of the rock of struggle, does it get any better than that?

…Biting the hand that feeds you.  Well, that takes a lot of gumption, doesn’t it?

…Nothing’s permanent except impermanence.  Upon that I think we can agree.

…Once you take that turn, it changes forever, so off you go.

…I’ve been making a list of expectations, which is perhaps unwise, presumptuous and a tad arrogant.

…I don’t own a single gun, yet if I did, you’d be the one to hold it, aim it, make the bad men run.

…The strangers in this town, they raise you up just to cut you down.

…I’ll admit that I’ve held onto hope like it was a noose.

…Hospital gowns never fit the way they should.

…What you’re supposed to do is stand your ass up, get back to the fight, and do it for the one you love.  That’s what you’re supposed to do.

…I may not be right, but that doesn’t necessarily make me wrong either.

…Adapt.  Bend.  Red and green...  At this time of year, right now, all this weight is crushing me.

…I haven’t seen a ladybug or butterfly in a long time and that really sucks.  You have no idea.

…I know you’re having a little trouble.  So am I.  By the way, I’m having a lot of trouble, actually.

…I haven’t given up on you, even if you are unable to return the favor.

…And yet I smile.

…Happy New Year.