New Year Ghosts

“For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await  another voice.”   T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

photo by Alina R.

You invited ghosts

to the New Year party

They made the other guests

feel loud and gaudy

with their quiet shadowy presence

We could barely hear ourselves talk

over their humming "Auld Lang Syne"

again and again, like sad chant

Remember 

when that girl wrote in your yearbook

"Plus ça change, plus ça reste la même?"

Well, I've been fighting that truth

ever since

I found new words,

a new voice,

a new sun to orbit

But you opened the attic

and let the ghosts escape

They glued hundreds of ripped pages

back onto the calendars

Tore out all of my bookmarks

so I had to reread from the beginning
They threw frail, faded petals
from old corsages
instead of confetti

And when it came time

to toast the New Year,

the wine had turned to vinegar.

submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, Bits of Inspiration, Happy New Year