You want the year to start a certain way.
Soon it rhizomes off into new concerns.
They’re not what you planned, but you can’t gainsay
the unexpected prospects that effort returns.
By March your goals have been countermanded;
by August they’re completely turned around.
The seats are empty where June grandstanded,
and this year’s keynote speaker can’t even be found.
This pattern pushes us through the decades,
grows more distinct from year to passing year,
most distinct wherever memory fades
and the moon scrolls yellowed pages back to the rear.
But it’s great that each new year does what it wants
and pushes us out of our last year’s musty haunts!