A Goal, Attended
Yesterday, I finished my 2025 Goodreads goal — down to the wire, reading two (poetry) books a day for the past few days to make up for how busy I was during the autumn.
Here is what that was like, expressed as a poem:
❦ I binge on poetry every December when the sun quickens the thick-chilling air and the chasm of what I have not achieved hits me sharp as the tang of oranges still juicy with midwinter hope gradually I hike the pages melting soft beneath me unlike the hard ice of prose I try and slip down each year while it builds and builds and builds book after book of potential knowing poetry is thick to wade through fragrant with images in the mind I love the way the metaphor and meaning curl together like chords plucked on the lyre of my heart these oranges, see, spraying citrus when my fingernails flay them open and I pull back the webbing from the fatty crescents' backs making a pile of offal to offer ❦
In the final few days of the year, I have a list of things that I’m making my way through which are not reading — namely, submitting things (finally), reflecting on the past year (haltingly), and designing better systems for next year (gingerly). I hope that you are all having a lovely and restful end to your 2025. In 2026, may we all land on our feet and be nourished by the Earth.