32 Comments
User's avatar
Robert Gowty's avatar

Sounds like a strategy for the new year. Dig out all the good stuff we’ve and make a few cosmetic changes! Not too many, of course.🥒 I wish you a very happy new year!

Debdutta Pal's avatar

I read that as cosmic changes at first...I must have had too many cucumbers.

Cheers! 🍻

Sue Banerji's avatar

"The cursive neon lettering on my headboard flickers at me, an anchor to my disarrayed thoughts."

I am letting your creativity simmer in my brain. Heart emoji.

Debdutta Pal's avatar

Thank you! So happy to have inspired you.

Patrick Eades's avatar

Happy new year!

Debdutta Pal's avatar

It was better than I thought it would be. And that's scary. 😆

Rea de Miranda's avatar

Reinvention for the new year. ❤️

Debdutta Pal's avatar

That's the hope. Thank you! 🖤

Mike Knittel's avatar

I walk away during the countdown too. There's nothing more loathsome than that dreaded countdown lol.

It's always great to find one from the past that stands the test of time. I'm embarrassed by the ones I wrote 5 mins ago, forget 5 years ago. So I always love that feeling.

I saw this one in my head like a movie short, sorta dreamy and surreal. I hardly had to use my imagination at all. The writing just brought me there

Debdutta Pal's avatar

I know, right? Everyone screaming Happy New Year...I heard you the first time, now calm down. 😁

Same, it's rare for me. Most of the time, I'm stopping myself from hitting the delete button.

Wow, that makes me so happy, thank you!

May More's avatar

I love this as much as i did when i first read it - great image choice, too. Happy New Year Debdutta

Debdutta Pal's avatar

Thank you so much! And cheers! I’m so drunk rn. 😁

May More's avatar

LOL

Smillew's avatar

Happy to see that one making a comeback!

(I miss Dead Or Alive - thanks for reviving it for a few minutes)

Debdutta Pal's avatar

I'm happy I could re-read my previously published work. 😁

(same, it will always be alive in a parallel universe)

Carlo Zeno's avatar

"For 45 minutes, it feels like everything is alright with the world. That we can stand with each other, forgetting all the darkness, aches, and injustice."

45 minutes is a good chunk of time to be feeling this!

Happy New Year, Deb. I look forward to another year of hitting that 'publish' button : )

Debdutta Pal's avatar

Oh yeah, it's practically a lifetime.

Thank you! Cheers!! 🥃

Karin C's avatar

I’m awed every time I read anything you write. I feel it all. See it all. Damn good.

Wishing you happy times and more great stories to share in 2026.

Debdutta Pal's avatar

That makes me so happy, thank you!

Cheers! 🖤

Gael MacLean's avatar

"Wait for the white moon." Those words alone create another whole universe. My imagination is in overdrive.

Debdutta Pal's avatar

Thank you! I might write a poem about it. I'm having trouble letting it go. 😁

Gael MacLean's avatar

Hope so.

Rivers + Robots's avatar

Beautiful. Happy New Year, D.P.!

Debdutta Pal's avatar

Thank you! Cheers!! 🥂

Mike Ketch Poetry's avatar

…just working on this at the moment ..

spider vein blue

copper Faraday cage

isolating form

age says what

I say why

I always fought bedtime

always one more drop of star shine

if I sleep in a casket

please leave a window so I can see out

not because I dislike small spaces

but because within these confines

I gaze into the infinite

Debdutta Pal's avatar

Wow. Just wow. So much wow.

Mike Ketch Poetry's avatar

Like a glass over filled spilling into cobblestones

the poet’s mind drops clues

iridescent pathway

to ’’the white moon’’

Your poem brings us that mardi gras moment but even more the authors note shows us foot steps of language walk their own cadence. For this, and the rest, we are grateful. 🎉🎨🕯️🖤

Debdutta Pal's avatar

Thank you! I'm always on the fence about adding notes, wondering if it adds to the story and takes away from the mystery. Very glad to know it resonated. 🖤

Mike Ketch Poetry's avatar

I know the feeling. The Daemon has such different stride lengths than ours. 🖤 Yet somehow we are always together.

Steffany Ritchie's avatar

The mix of melancholy and hope here is soothing to me. Beautiful piece, thanks for resharing. Wishing you a wonderful new year! 😀🥂

Debdutta Pal's avatar

I'm so happy to hear that. The end of the year...is an interesting time.

Cheers!! 🍸

User's avatar
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Jan 5
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Debdutta Pal's avatar

I wish it were still the 1st. Happy New Year!! 🥳