Poetry: January 1st, 2014

January 1st, 2014
Let's talk about beginnings
Beginnings are scary, dangerous things
Full of unknown properties
Unsolved equations
Unfinished poems
And ambiguity
Beginnings are the standing at the edge of the cliff
Wearing a blindfold
They are the wooded path at nightfall
Which is uncertain, but the only way through.
Let's talk about beginnings
Beginnings are exciting, wonderful things
Full of promise and hope
Release from the past
A way forward
Beginnings are the hushed moment of expectation
Before the guest of honor walks into the room
They are the unexpected freefall down the hill
Grass flying
Laughing wildly
They are the wrapped presents under the Christmas tree
The smile on a stranger's face
The seed of a great tree
Let's talk about beginnings
This is one
Use it well


Author Notes: This poem, as the title says, was written on New Year's Day of this year. There wasn't really a specific feeling or incident that inspired this, but it was right in the middle of my freshman year at college. That was a year of a lot of firsts for me: first time being away from my parents for longer than a weekend, first time doing a long drive by myself, first time at college. While these things were scary, they were also exciting and wonderful and disappointing and painful and exhilarating all at once. This poem sort of addresses that, while also saying that beginnings are unavoidable and even necessary in life. Beginnings are what you make of them.