‘January 1st’

This year, the Western dharma world lost two of our most beloved and engaged elders in the passings of Larry Ward and Joanna Macy. Before the former’s passing, he left us with the treasure trove of poetry that is Morning Night: Poems on Nature, Spirit, and Race, the collection that would invariably be his last offering. The poems found within serve as both a balm as well as a guiding light going into 2026. One of the collection’s more prescient pieces, “January 1st” feels like a fitting way to both end this year and open up to the next. 

–Eds.

January 1st

Leaves that fall
at night make
a softer sound
when they touch
the Earth.

Where do broken hearts
go in the middle
of life’s windstorm?
I shall go to the
river of love
for my tears
to nourish
my heart.

Sit down and
wait patiently
for my river
of tears dammed
up by suppression
to survive.

Letting go of sadness,
falling like a leaf
in the still night.
I am happy and free
to greet the sun rise
of a new day,
a new year,
a new life.

♦

From Morning Night: Poems on Spirit, Race and Nature by Larry Ward, PhD, published by Lotus Moss Press. Copyright © 2025 by Larry Ward, PhD. Reprinted in arrangement with the publisher.