LET ALONE ANOTHER YEAR

Give me another year, oh Great Scythe that cuts them away like grass.
One that is filled with music of laughing friends, of loving friends,
That challenges me to be better, higher, softer and wiser,
That leaves me content and much more interested in others.

Give me a year of prosperity defined by what I have given,
Of what I have shared and offered to share.
Give me a year that blends my memories into my everydays,
That shows me a way to connect my past, my present.
One that fills my cup with effort and industry and a sense of wonder
Each time the sky fills with clouds and the rain washes over us.

Give me another year to right the wrongs, to repair the slights,
To expiate the pettiness, to deepen the love I have cherished for so many years.
Give me another year just like this last year.
I could ask for no more, for nothing greater.

Except perhaps the capacity to
Appreciate it even more and more and, then,
To be at peace with a glowing sense of gratitude
That always fills me when I come face to face
With the incredible joys of just another minute
Let alone another year.

-- Bill Purdin (123198)