January

I want to write
A fresh poem
A January poem
It seems like a good time
After all it is the beginning
Of the year.
And yet
Old words come up 

Like the old shirt
I always wondered
Where you got it from
Dug up from the closet
Now given away to the house help
Like the letter I found
Years ago
Unfinished perhaps unsent
Dear...
Name that wasn't mine
Oh, I could list down
A few more
But it's getting old

There is nothing new
About old wounds
Perhaps
All stories are old ones
Read, reread
Told again and again

I want to write a
Fresh poem
A January poem that begins:

Daylight breaks
The grass turns yellow
From the glare of the sun
And the birds sing a broken hymn
No, not a Hallelujiah
But this--
Did you truly love me?
I am a woman to love
How could you not?

Course you did
Did
Past tense
for
The new year

I want to write
A fresh poem
A January poem
It seems like a good time
After all it is the beginning
Of the year.
And yet
Here I am
Wondering
Where the new words went.

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