Dear poets,

As we sit down to write poems for the last Poetics prompt of the year, I would like you to look back one last time at this year and all that unfolded in your life and the world around you in these past eleven and a half months. It is never a bad idea to glance back before surging ahead.

Looking Back

I blinked

and the house got quiet.

The toys were gone,

the voices faded,

and the walls 

held memories 

like photographs

I never took.

Was this year a mixed bag like many other past years? What do you think of the political upheavals, geopolitical conflicts, the mindless massacres that took place? Were you more concerned about what was happening in the world, turning a blind eye to the happenings in your own backyard? Did you feel helpless or enraged? Did you wring your hands fruitlessly, did you vent your anger through words or did you go about your life as usual?

Hell in My Heart (An Upheaval)

              By Emanuel Martinez

How much pain

Can one heart take

Burning battle scars

Every time

I don’t hear your voice

I’m lost

How could I fall so far

Always afraid to kiss you

Now there’s no you

Upheaval

             By Lawrence S. Pertillar

You may moan about these times we live.

And complain about how you have been affected.

Attempt to do those very same things done,

You did yesterday!

And the day before that and got the same results.

But today…

If your eyes have not been open all the way,

Without tunnel vision

As a means to satisfy your existence.

You ‘may’ discover a more enriched life,

Or was this a year that marked a special milestone in your life? Did this year give you more reasons to smile than scowl? A year of personal growth, special achievements, arrival of new members in the family or all that went well certainly calls for celebration. Facing no major health scare is also a reason to rejoice when we take health and so many other things for granted.

When your Life Looks Back

                     By Jane Hirshfield

Your life will carry you as it did always,

With ten fingers and both palms,

With horizontal ribs and upright spine,

With its filling and emptying heart,

That wanted only your own heart, emptying, filled, in return.

You gave it. What else could you do?

For today’s prompt, pick one defining moment or event (personal or global) of this year that describes what 2025 means to you. Or write a poem about how this year has been for you in general.

Once you have put down this year on paper, let’s look forward to the new year without the baggage of the past and may it bring peace, solidarity and understanding. May we never lose our spark, may we keep fighting for what is right and may the pen always be mightier than the sword. Wishing you all a good, fulfilling year ahead. See you all in 2026!