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      August 12, 2022Through New Year’s EveRolf Rathmann

      1999—Prince sang about it.
      Media over-conflated it, remember?
      Y2K—computers worldwide would
      crash.
      Expectations were high
      and I
      threw my worst party ever,
      a royal dud! Few people showed
      and those who did watched CNN
      all night, as the world
      rang in without incident
      I felt responsible for the awful
      night I was sure my friends had.
      Growing up, it was a special
      night; instilling her Dutch heritage,
      mom would prepare apple
      beignets and oliebollen, a dumpling,
      with a whispered dusting of
      powdered sugar. The next day—ooooh
      how they tasted great 1, 2, even 3
      days old—we watched on television
      the Tournament of Roses Parade and then
      brother and mom: college football. Pop
      took us once, I’ve been told, to see it
      live in Pasadena—but I don’t remember.
      I’m sure I must’ve loved it—all those
      floats, and flowers, and people!
      One New Year’s, flying the Friendly
      Skies—not a very prescient slogan—
      I had a four-day layover in Paris.
      At the midnight hour, autos everywhere
      came to a halt, blaring their horns
      and I
      alone in a taxi
      continued to a club in my
      most magical of cities.
      “Write what you’re afraid to say,”
      I’ve been advised by more than one.
      Okay.                 I’ve
      spent too many New Year’s
      Eves
      in prison.
      It’s—different,
      discordant.
      But I alone
      am responsible.

      from #76 - Summer 2022

      Rolf Rathmann

      “For myself, poetry is writing stripped bare—raw, vulnerable, frightening. It also challenges me to be more concise, a trait I lack verbally. Whether it be childhood loss, the angst of coming out, or the pangs of addiction then recovery, poetry helps me release the pain, and capture the joy. This contribution is dedicated to my family—by birth and the family I choose, my friends, for seeing light in me when I so often saw dark.”