A poem by my friend, Gwen Marable:

This is the longest night
Embrace the darkness
Wrap yourself in the presence
Of your life
Sit with your wisdom
Witness the past year
As you would unpack your suitcase after a long journey
Find forgotten treasures
Joys and extraordinary blessings
Unexpected kindnesses and miracles
Take out the day to day experiences
The lessons learned and relearned
Shake out the unhappy feelings
Letting go of remembered bitter words
Hurt feelings
Pain
Look
With eyes grown used to darkness
Let your hands reach into the corners
Find all that has been hidden and forgotten
Turn over the suitcase
Empty it
Now look inside again
Regard the emptiness
What will you carry with you
Into your new year?