A Poem for the Last Night of the Year
Poem for December 31, 2004 by James E. Nelson
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A POEM FOR THE LAST NIGHT OF THE YEAR
It's such an artificial night.
We know the earth won't tip
because it stopped its wobble left
and began to wobble right
ten days ago. Even the year
is only accurate plus or minus
thirty-five, and our modern
quartz precision watches
are confused by plus or minus
thirty five, or ten, or even
the tiny portion of a second
our earth slows down each year.
And since the earth is slowing,
the sun is cooling, and some
perturbed old comet is taking
aim at us (according to the scientists),
it's good, no doubt, to let
the new year get a running start
before we celebrate. It's good to know
we'll wobble back to straight
before we lift our cup and tip
into this artificial night.
Copyright © 2004 James E. Nelson (Just Another Jim). All Rights Reserved.
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