New Year's Day 2026

Today, while my friends were welcoming the new mayor and the potential of hope’s return in the subfreezing air, I spent the day de-peopling. Instead of bundling up and heading into the city, I spent the day in my nightgown, soaking in the languid purring warmth of my pile of sleeping cats. Without the constant reaching need of human voices, I can open my rusty gates and let the tranquiilty of feline dreams flow in and fill the deep canyons and spidery cracks like the golden kintsukuroi seams in Japanese porcelain. Like the map of a teenage cutter’s scars faded to silver on middle aged skin, the repair is solid but the mark of the pain still remains.

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