New Years 2025

Footprints of tourists painting the sand,

The cries of the ocean berating the land.

Chappell Roan and milestones,

Informing the world we aren’t fighting alone.

Ten teenagers talking til the old year gives way,

Then pop tunes, to hotel rooms,

Just being together with little to say.

We laugh until two,

Then think until three,

And part through familiar halls,

A fleeting family.

A benchmark, a bookend,

A time to recall

Once-a-year friends to get through it all.

Someday we’ll reminisce, but tonight we well-wish

The custodial staff working night shifts.

We say goodnight, but not goodbye —

I’ll see you again in twenty-five.

We make our way to January,

And begin our day with going to sleep.