I put on the coffee and ducked out for the morning mail
A short stroll down a long driveway
Into the world and a brand new day
It is cool and brisk and I, rushing,
Almost missed it.

The birds were first, chirping, flitting through trees
Then shafts of sunlight poked through the clouds.
The air was heavy from last night’s rain,
And small buds appeared on the tips of trees.
It smelled of hope.

This is our new year, our renewal of life,
From all that was lost in the winter’s cold
We remember again on a day such as this, when
Things so small speak in ways so large and we
Begin again.

Neighbors will trim their bushes, cut their grass,
Wash their windows, and mulch their yards,
Garages will empty into driveways
To be picked clean to ensure that
Order’s restored.

We will cull branches from trees and sow flowers into beds,
Spread lime onto lawns and stain wooden decks.
We hold such duty as self-evident,
As we begin again and again and again and our
Neighborhoods gleam.

If only we paid such careful devotion
To renewing our lives, our faith, our loves, our souls
Imagine how we might gleam
As husbands and wives, as parents and friends
Just imagine.

The coffee is brewed and with paper in hand I
Return to start my morning
The news is bad, as news always is
I fold the paper and go back outside for Spring,
At last, is here.