Welcome 2012

You've dawned, so what is new, Two Thousand Twelve,
Except a dusting of new snow to soften the stark scenes?
The news, some issues moved upon, some shelved,
The striving still goes on for lives of means.

And you've appeared, New Year, clear-eyed, as yet unstained,
To face the disarray the old has left behind;
Backed by resolves of those by consequences trained,
You purpose to bring betterment to land and mind.

As the exuberance of saying the farewell,
And, as the strains of "Old Times' Sake" have eased away,
It's time to say, "Oh, hail Two Thousand Twelve,"
And give her place to implement a better day.

And, well we know the clash, administration change,
Or the retention of the status quo.
You're a year among years where we rearrange,
And hope to influence how it should go.

So we look ahead, sometimes with hope for peace,
And, knowing tides, times of adversity
Assail us any year and never cease,
We look for leaders with ability to see.

Contemplating what your way may be,
Would you walk the worn-in paths again?
Or gather strength to realize what visionaries see,
And should you find and follow newer trails, what then?

It may have been a trumpet blast or mournful air,
That ushered out and ushered in the changed command,
But, as for you, as yet untarnished, hovering there,
I trust you to the steady strength of God's great hand.