New Year’s Eve 2020

Source: trafalgay.com
Now, when you say good-bye
don’t be rude,
don’t roll your eyes,
or angrily brood
aloof with arms militarily crossed.
Don’t toss
your heavy head
with flippant airs,
don’t stare
like a stony statue dead.
Don’t slam the door,
don’t pour
saccharine sarcasm in your mouth
then spit it out
on the departing guest
who, it’s true, has left
a right royal mess.
Nevertheless
the rules of hospitality
must be kept with impartiality.
And if the going year
has not exactly endeared
itself to you, to us,
it certainly spent much
time in our shrinking homes:
that alone
is argument enough
for courtesy
when Twenty-Twenty
takes its leave.
Always it behooves
the host to prove
the mettle of her kindness.
Never mistreat a guest.
Never a bridge burn.
You never know
how it will go…
someday you may return.

Greg Kennedy, SJ works as a spiritual director at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario. He is author of Reupholstered Psalms volumes I, II, and III; and Amazing Friendships between Animals and Saints (Novalis Press).

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4 Comments
  • Peter Bisson
    Posted at 08:58h, 31 December Reply

    Thank you Greg!! Happy 2021

  • olga protz
    Posted at 12:31h, 31 December Reply

    A good reminder Greg…..Happy New Year to you !

  • suzanne renaud
    Posted at 12:44h, 31 December Reply

    Thank you!

  • Jenny Cafiso
    Posted at 14:18h, 05 January Reply

    Brilliant and insightful

Post A Reply to suzanne renaud Cancel Reply

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