Annus Novus

Antoinette F. Winestead

January 7, 2024

Last year resides in memory

sepia-tinged and crumbling

faded afterthoughts 

reduced to nostalgic wonder

if not captured with pen and paper

or in photographic image

like so many, soon forgotten.

Three-hundred-and sixty-five days

all but a handful remembered

time lived with little recollection

sped through in anticipation

of greater, better

that no longer matters

yet seemed so relevant.

Ahead lies an annus novus

of unspent days, weeks

through which to speed

or creep

seconds collected into hours

either wisely pondered

or foolishly squandered.

When the calendar ends

twelve months hence

what memories will remain

of the three-hundred-and-sixty-five days?

In hopeful calculations

let not one moment be wasted

in unremarkable recreations.

Let this new year be well remembered

as none before

recollected for time spent with a miser’s reserve

on only that worthy of remembrance

long after ink fades and photos lose image

each day remembered as overfilled with moments

of joy and laughter – love exceeding nostalgia.

Antoinette F. Winstead, a poet, playwright, director, and actor, teaches film and theater courses at Our Lady of the Lake University where she serves as the Program Head for the Drama program. Her poetry has been published in The Ekphrastic Review, Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas, and Voice de la Luna.  In 2022, her poem “Life Is” was nominated for a 2022 Pushcart Prize by the editor of Jerry Jazz Musician.