Happy new year

It was icy last night,
Cleveland seems to be in a freeze thaw cycle,
and so a friend asked me to drive her home.
We looped around the block
so that I could get as close to her apartment as I could,
and as I slowly slid to a stop,
she said, "Thanks for the ride, Lisa."
Hmmm. Lisa? My name isn't Lisa.
So maybe this year, instead of being Jean,
a name that women over 65 have,
I will be Lisa. Lisa Jane maybe.

And, just because the calendar has flipped
from an even year into an odd year,
I will stretch my limits and be odd,
not divisible by two. Not a multiple of two.
I will be prime, a bit off.
Lisa the 7th, Lisa the 13th,
Lisa the 19th, queen of a new world order.

And I will do these things with intention and purpose:
be aggressive hospitable,
selfishly giving, quietly bold.
I will fish for details, listen with my eyes open,
get more than cement under my feet.
I will be an agent of insistent certainty,
not letting my heart and mind waver and dip.
I will love where I sit, do what I can, be who I am,
trusting in the soft grace of graciousness

to shine a new way home.