The Things We Let Go: A New Year Poem

There are things
we need to let go
especially now
that snow is falling gently
then melting.
See? It is saying
that's what happens
when you look the other way.

There are things
we promise ourselves
our tired, forgotten-how-to-sit-still selves
a trip to a foreign city
where sitting is exactly what
they do best
at cafés in squares
the young and old
weary of the wind picking up
spiking coffee with brandy.

There are things that make it
onto a list, folded and kept
in a pocket, wishes and to-do's,
not the same thing—
better to run the washer
let the ink dissolve
with the soap
down the drain.

©2010 Maria Scala