Midwinter trek
Through the late
December thaws
From one mountain
To a distant valley
Family tradition
New minted.
Not New Years Eve
But the First Night
Not parties and waiting
But an ice-rimmed
Celebratory glow
Lost parade maybes
The search more important
Than the little loss
And to culminate,
An eruptive glory
Of fire and light
And an infant new year
Aborning.

12/31/03

Mother and daughter, visiting town from the mountains of Cambria County, west of Altoona. They had mis-placed the parade, which appeared obligingly as I was copying out a finished version of this poem for them.