January Ritual

Colleen Hildebrand

The old year recedes
like a page
   intentions profound
   and organic
dropped and afloat
    for just a while
    on the lake’s surface
carried on waves
    slight in their rise
drifting close
    within reach
until heavy with thirst
the past sinks slowly
    beyond sight
dissolving itself in bits
as indigo bleeds
    from the pulp
    and spreads wide
    across the water  
into sky 

In the scattered light
    with the grace of doves
    the curiosity of herons
    and the uncertainty of
    tadpoles,
the new year begins.

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Colleen Hildebrand
A lifelong resident of Louisiana, Colleen Hildebrand earned her B.A. in Secondary English Education from the University of New Orleans, and her M.A. in English from Southeastern Louisiana University. She has over thirty years of classroom experience, and her first book, In the Ether: A Memoir of Holding Space, was published in 2022.