New Year in Brazil
With the taste and aroma of the first-morning coffee
the new year comes to me.
It's coming now,
even though it's been open for almost three weeks.
Is he late? Maybe.
But I'm not angry.
Everything's different this year.
This year he's not aggressively kicking down doors,
like his predecessors did.
He's not trying to go on a nervous rampage
to grab unrealistic results in real-time,
only to huddle in panicked terror
that the essentials are slipping through his fingers.
This year he is not aggressively kicking down doors,
it comes slowly and with peace in its heart.
He lays priorities like building blocks
and doesn't waste space.
I look at him and I know this is how it will be.
Though some may not understand me.
Though I may bring disappointment to some,
...because my decisions will not obey their expectations.
A year as clear as water
may it prove in the end that these very decisions
are for the good and benefit of all around.
May it have in it
the sweetness of slow Brazilian coffee
instead of instant coffee powder,
the laughter of children playing
the juiciness of an orange freshly plucked from the tree
and the comfort of parrots perched atop a palm tree
where they can see everything with a detached eye.
Thank you for giving us a different start this year
