The last Poem of the Week of 2020 comes courtesy of Maine poet Kate Barnes, as she embraces the notion of "out with the old and in with the new" at the start of a new year, leaving us with a simple but big wish. Barnes was both a poet of the land and a worker of the land, spending the last decades of her life as a blueberry farmer in Appleton. She was Maine's first poet laureate, and many of her books are beautifully illustrated with woodcuts by Mary Azarian.
Whatever wishes you have for the new year, those of us at the Camden Public Library hope you will continue to spend it with us–requesting curbside books, briefly browsing, waving through the doors, attending virtual programs, and reading the blog. Happy New Year!
New Year, 2000
I have been fanciful and unwise,
a drunkard of the printed word.
Now I must give away half my books
or I won't be able to walk into the kitchen
at all.
The New Year
has come, it's time now
to clear things up around here, inside
and out. Last night
I swept the old year out at the back door
(with thanks) and welcomed
the new year in at the front door
(with wishes).
New Year, New Year,
coming in from the frosty darkness,
with Orion over your shoulder, my wish
is to live at peace
with my heart, my house – groaning with books,
though it still is – with my friends,
with my children wherever
they happen to be, with my neighbors,
with the cat on the bed,
with the stars
dancing their slow round
over the ridge pole, with the deer
outside in the snowy thicket, with the earth
under the snow, even with the times
that taste so metallic in my mouth – and with everyone else
who is grieving in this world – and with everyone else
who is wishing, too.
- Kate Barnes
From Kneeling Orion
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