Things to Keep

(getting older)

Every now and then I get frustrated
at the accumulated clutter and feel
the urge to purge the flotsam
and jetsam. 

So I scatter this year's journals 
across the coffee table and go through 
them to sense-make the stories I wrote
down. 

What matters? There are a few 
things I'd like to keep: Everything else
can go into the New Year's Bonfire: 
A blazing sun. 

Afterwards, I clean out the ash, 
and there is a smouldering ember, a
piece of smudge stick, and a letter that 
survived in the corner. 

I'll keep music and spirit, courage
and curiosity, hope and faith. 

The rest can go: To begin again, 
a little bit closer to the end.