January 1

Janus,
Roman god
with 2 faces
one, that looks forward
the other to the past
and I wonder, in this,
is he a lot like us?
January 1st,
in our calendar it's
a brand-new beginning
a renewal,
celebrated and welcomed
with partying,
the eve's robust revelry...
But I chuckle at
the symbolism
the artist's depiction
of the former year as an old man,
as Father Time, bent with a wispy
white beard
and his stepping aside
to the advent of a
diaper-clad infant
symbol of the
new...
And I think of traditions
of grapes and of brooms sweeping clean
(in this part of the world)
and the ham, deviled eggs of my childhood.
(echoes of Eastern Europe)
I see the New Year
as epitomizing promise,
a exuberant wish fullness
even midst winter's cold grip.