This is my holiday mirror

I keep it wrapped up in the closet

and bring it out 

and dust it off

and peer inside it

once each year.

Within it sits the shadow

of a girl with the same eyes as mine.

She's a year younger, though

not so weary

unburdened with the stress

that 2016 gifted us

more or less.

I'm not any more fit than her

I don't eat any healthier

I haven't gotten better grades

But there's something still she lacks

that I now possess.

She doesn't have the caution

that I do

endowed me by the experience of paying for TWO parking tickets.

She doesn't have the guts

She didn't take the risks

or slip

and fall

only to discover that it's possible to get back up.

She's still used to getting her way

and having her expecations met

She hasn't learned to cope

not yet

with the fact that life is what happens

when you are busy

making other plans

as someone once said.

Perhaps

this year has not been wasted

after all.

-SDG