New Year Morning

We woke up on the morning of the New Year
Full of good wishes for all
Spreading our hopes like the tail feathers of Sultan's peacock
With a thousand colorful eyes, displaying our desire
For a peaceful world, oblivious to the stormy weather outside.
 
It's been a long time since we've been face to face
Dancing cheek to cheek, being closer than six feet
Still we wash our hair in a fragrance from far distant lands
In the hope of it catching attention even from afar
But it's hard, flirting through masked lips.
 
God knows the world is full of tired faces
Still, we fill our bird feeders and watch the birds
Cheeringly circle it like worshipers around a saint's shrine
In the hope that others too are called to it
And some day soon, we may watch the birds together.
 
If history has taught us anything
Is that we've been here before and
Man's genius always finds a way out
But this time, there seems to be
More deniers of the truth.
 
Wishful we are though, that despite it all
This storm too will pass, skies clear, and
Our children will play together again
Lovers get to flirt and kiss again, and
We get to take our masks off and say hello.
 
Here is to the coming days of the New Year!
May they be happy ones.
 
Reza Ghadimi
January 2022