December 31st
All my undone actions wander
naked across the calendar,
a band of skinny hunter-gatherers,
blown snow scattered here and there,
stumbling toward a future
folded in the New Year I secure
with a pushpin: January's picture
a painting from the 17th century,
a still-life: skull and mirror,
spilled coinpurse and a flower.
Richard Hoffman (1949- )
via Emblem (Barrow Street Press, 2011)
