Good morning, 2008.

Life Goes On
The beat carries me away—
Zipping by on a sunlight ray—
Taking off on the train of life,
I ride all day, I ride all night—
Like a horse drawn by its reigns—
Like blood flowing through my veins—
Like a baseball player’s fast ball thrown—
Or my Shoes which have a mind of their own—
Life keeps going,
My peers unknowing,
A rock with no moss,
Speckled with loss,
Almost against my will—
My strength is sometimes killed—
But no stops tonight,
Eighty-seven years this journey is my plight,
Look back and say the journey was best,
Because in the end I’ll stop and— —

At 6:00 am we all got up and walked up the hill, back to the festival, for the sunrise ceremony. I don't think there is anything I could say to aptly describe what took place this morning. It was simply poetic. As masses of people gathered for the sunrise, a man beat his drum, gaining in tempo with our mounting anticipation and the sky intensifying red, orange and pink hues. When the sun finally rose above the clouds and over the Pacific, thousands of helium filled balloons went soaring towards the horizon, carried by the wind and bound for a new day. I could hear the lady next to me hold her breath and let it out with a whisper, saying, "Yaeputa," or "Beautiful." It was magical. And as the fishing boats set course for a new day--a new year of prospects, everyone gathered under the new year's sun secretly said a silent prayer for their own hopes and dreams, that as life goes on, so will we.

Goodnight, 2007. Good morning, 2008.

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