Shadow

This year
there was a shadow
that blocked the view
on some brilliant and usual days.

Even when the sun was bright
and the moon launched silver
into the night with mystical happiness,
the shadow, it seemed, was always there
like some sort of dark eclipse
no one wanted to see.

In the new year
we will find joy in all the right places,
around every corner;
a new shadow of light
over the corners where cobwebs
can't imagine crawling with their long
and invisible legs.

This sparkling blue snow
under flashing fireworks
and wide-eyed hope,
already shines unashamed on faces
that blush, smile and offer us
a kindness we almost forgot
when the shadow
distracted the seekers;

a passing cloud
and a storm we endured.