Good Intentions

A year within the crucible

That rests in rage and war,

The year was irreducible,

Like all that came before.

Buoyed on the wings of triumph, be;

Recall all you have learned,

And mark your every victory,

And mark each bridge that's burned.

And so the year through twists and turns

Has birthed a year anew;

So many opportunities

So many things to do.

Look back upon the year that's passed,

The lessons you did learn,

The months that slip away so fast,

The light persists to burn.

Think back on benedictions fair,

And maledictions dire,

Of grand adventure wrought with care,

Of fury and of fire.

Of all the things you thought and did,

Those things that brought you through,

Of all the woes of which you're rid,

What lies ahead to do.

Now, unchecked opportunity

Provides a forward path;

And acting with impunity

From vanquished foes' swift wrath.

The world a gem, untrammeled snows,

That marks it fresh and fair,

A world in which fresh goodness grows,

Potential in the air.

There is still wickedness to seek,

In this world pure and stark;

And willful blindness leaves oblique

Eyes watching from the dark.

Be grateful for the things behind,

The things that you now know;

If you forget, you may yet find

There's blood upon the snow.