In the last few hours of the year.
Superior is awake and talking.

Waves are heard before they appear as bulges in the sea,
crashing on rocks unable to freeze.

The old cabin windows rattle and shake,
before settling down until the next wave arrives.

Pine and cedar branches weighed with snow,
bobbing amidst the cold onslaught.

Trees standing atop the cliffs show their resilience
while covered in ice, battered from each storm, still standing.

A fitting end to a year of turbulence, changes, and lessons.
A year that forced reflection, offered the chance to look within ourselves.

What can I move into the next year with, what are the best parts of myself,
and what should I leave behind, what can be discarded, to move more freely?

As the struggle to fit within the social norms and expectations intensifies,
I find some solace in the raging storm attempting to break me down,

to remove the unneeded layers, bit by bit, exposing the raw soul sitting on
the shoreline looking for answers in the wind and grey sea.