gospel

2016 retrospectives understandably
multiply at the moment,
as does the sentiment
that 2016 sucked,
on the whole

in general,
esp in terms of
what memes get
play on Facebook,
that’s probably accurate

many are pointing, still,
with dystopian, apocalyptic fervor,
at the ascension of
the one they call Trump

fair enough
and agreed
(but read this screed)

many more,
given the timing,
are pointing to
a perceived spate of
high-profile deaths

and fair enough,
agreed,
and i don’t need
to catalogue them here . . .
(we’ve seen, read,
perhaps wept,
at least wistfully remembered,
watched that old flick,
spun that classic disc,
relived triumphant
human moments,
reveled in kitsch
and gravitas alike)

tldr: i’m sad, like you,
and it does make me say,
with you,
that 2016 sucked

but/however

2016 also did not suck

perhaps it’d help to
catalogue items of hope?
births full of potential?
perhaps it’d help to
meme and proliferate
that instead?
to burn those images,
those memories,
into our heads?

and/also

i wonder whether
this spate is truly a spate,
or if bad things just
*seem* to come in bunches,
when one looks
for bad things,
when one memes,
in general,
on Facebook?

and/also

i wonder whether
it’s just that
we’re all of us
getting to a certain age,
our pop culture,
our social media,
included?

and/also/finally/respectfully

isn’t that the point?

that we’re all of us
getting to a certain age,
that we’re all of us
moments closer to the end,
like them,
even as we sit and
write/read this screed?

isn’t
death
still
the
problem?

yes/of course

yes, of course,
part of why
those who die
matter is:
as horrible reminder,
as gauges of
our own mortality,
our own significance –
their finished stories
meeting our continuing story,
their deaths foreshadowing
our eventual death

isn’t death still the problem?
a problematic
part of life at least?

don’t we
(at least)
wish
it
were
different?
and shouldn’t we?

don’t we
(at least)
wish for
a mollifying perspective?
a palliative of some sort?
a blow softener?
a medicine, a salve,
a balm in Gilead?
or maybe we even wish for
a solution,
a fix?
a de-stinger
for death’s sting?

don’t we,
ultimately,
wish for
death’s death?
for resurrection?
for vindicated life –
true life?

yes/of course

and/well

probably, maybe they’re
working on such a thing –
probably, hopefully
it’ll be around for 2017,
you know,
so we’re not just
here again in a year –
meming on Facebook
and so on . . .

or/perhaps

there’s such a thing already