Somber Thoughts On A New Year

Lingering hope gives impetus to continue with life.

It proffers clarity of vision to see through hazy veil

that shrouds our real purposes here on this earth.

That lowly man is here only as itinerant traveler,

preordained to begin his real life in the spirit

devoid of the constrictive trappings of the flesh.

Still, while the mind and spirit share a clear 

and unstinting grasp of our real goals in life,

keeping this frame of mind is mostly difficult.

And calamitous lapses in judgment are typical,

making it necessary to be always reminded 

of guiding principles that should rule daily living