roses at the home of Anne Waldman, New Year’s Eve, 2016

Today starts a new year in the Western calendar and a chance to look forward.  We all know given the coming Inauguration that it will not be easy and for many of us it will bring way to much pain.  But, we can deal with it by staying vigilant and helping those who are in greater need; by constantly demanding justice; and by doing what ever it is that we do best: write poems, sing songs, heal the sick, minister or counsel, open businesses that offer things people need, paint, sculpt, develop policy that encourage and support the polity.  We can do those things.  Who knows at the end of this year those seeking progress, justice, and environmental health may be seen as the clear winners.  We can plant our gardens not only for sustenance but for beauty: BREAD AND ROSES works for me.