Closings and Openings: 2007 & 2008

So we come to the end of 2007. Every year is rich in events, some joyful, sad, remarkable, and surprising. 2007, of course, is no exception. Also, today is the Solstice, which means it is the darkest day of the year. Today, there is less sunlight than on any day of the year. But the promise comes tomorrow. Tomorrow, the sunlight begins to grow and each day we will see more light, more warmth.
Endings are essential. Marking them is essential too. So, as we come to the end of 2007, we are all invited to consider what was good, what was ugly, what was beautiful, what was compassionate in the past twelve months. And that reflection can, with hope, draw us forward into 2008. We can make choices differently so that 2008 will be more beautiful, more kind, more generous. It is up to us. I invite you, as 2007 closes and 2008 opens, to consider ways you and I can make new choices. We can make choices that center on beauty, art, compassion, justice. We can ponder and reflect more intentionally, how we can plant these realities more firmly in our lives. I continue to be amazed at the response to CUT LOOSE THE BODY, the anthology of poetry on torture, which Rose Berger and I co-edited. I am grateful to the poets and others who have written or spoken of the beauty of this little book. We look forward to Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation and Witness, an amazing literary and activist event coming to Washington, D.C. March 20-23, 2008. All the best to you and those you love for a wonderful closing of 2007 and a hopeful opening to 2008.

Top Photo (by Dan Vera): Kyle Dargan, E. Ethelbert Miller, Joseph Ross at AU Museum, 10 November 2007
Second Photo: (by S. Arthurs) Robert Waxman and Joseph Ross, Summer, 2007
Third Photo: (by Dan Vera) Rose Berger at AU Museum, 10 November 2007
Fourth Photo: (by R. Waxman) J. Ross, D. Nurkse, Ethelbert Miller, Consuelo Hernandez, Tala Rameh, Kyle Dargan, Myra Sklarew, Rose Berger, Sinan Antoon at AU Museum, 10 November 2007
Fifth Photo: (by R. Waxman) Joseph Ross and Sam Ross, Thompson Creek Trail, Claremont, CA, Summer 2007