The Year of Mending Things

Is this the year of mending things?
First there was the top,
though that was last year, before Christmas;
but remember how proud I was to give it back its voice?
Since then I've fixed a few more things:
some floors, the world in miniature spinning on a stand,
and portions of a mountain;
and also me--at least in part.

And then of course your foot is on the mend;
though I can't claim credit for that, any more than for
recovery from real catastrophe you watched in disbelief--
but look: even there, at least the wreck is gone,
the hole's filled in,
and lasting hurt is bandaged by the quiet snow.

What else can we fix this year?
Our door, of course--
but hearts undone by loss,
shaky souls
(a nation?),
and all our silent fears?
Too much to hope perhaps,
that now so much has broken we have reached a temporary peace,
where glue and love and energy and care
can now repair the damage of a brutal year--
but we can hope; and that, or so it's said,
is where we start.

February 4, 2009