Dec. 30, 2011
it is the last day of the year
the 30th, almost the last.
a year of freedom full of fear.
a year of 99%,
of arab spring and ai weiwei.
financial worries every day
a hope for fundamental change
in pockets, maybe for a while
a fear of fundamental change.
a fitful and decisive year
with days of truth and days of deaths.
dictators dead, and protesters
are dead or maimed or put away-
almost like 1989
in egypt and tunesia
in libya and in bahrain
in yemen and in syria.
a year of death, a year of pain.
a giant earthquake in japan
a tsunami, and power plants
not quite like 1986
but lots of damage, lots of fear.
in china, there is no big change
and many towns remain in debt.
a high-speed train derails and kills
the silence and the confidence
at least in pockets for a while.
a village full of protesters
in wukan, and the end is good,
or so it seems.
and dissidents remain in jail
and north korea stays the same,
a huge display of pomp and tears.
we went to trebic and to prague
to znojmo, jaromerice
to jihlava, to synagogues.
and vaclav havel passed away.
i saw the light, the evening light
in brno, almost like today.
the wind is cold, i see the moon
at four o’clock. with rosy clouds.
the lights are on. the light remains,
the darkness falls.
the children play.
they sing and pray against assad.
with flags of freedom, chants of hope
in exile, singing loud and clear.
a group of thirty, not a threat.
vienna almost stays the same.
let us drink to days of freedom
let us think of rays of change
let us hope and work and play.
MW December 2011
Photo by Lonnie Hodge
中国大好き 