Ariella Green Week 6: “Happy New Year” by Sierra Demulder

 Ariella Green Week 6: “Happy New Year” by Sierra Demulder

As I’ve read more and more of Demulder’s work, I noticed she likes to dig deep and offer a new perspective on heavy topics. When you hear the title of this poem, you may think to yourself it must be a hopeful poem filled with joy, or it may even talk about a new year’s party. The poem asks us to imagine “ the entire existence of the Earth–all 4.54 billion years” of it in the time span of one year. That means to squeeze everything that happened in 4.54 billion years into just one year. 

In this poem, Demulder is asking you to imagine quite a few things. She wants you to imagine a baby being born and then dying as an old man in the same moment, a world war that lasts a heartbeat, and a century that passes like a flip book. Each of these events is measured differently with time. Upon first reading, this poem confused me because of how detailed Demulder is when discussing these topics to prove her point that everything happens so fast. I soon realized that she really wants us to imagine “a world war that lasts a heartbeat”. Seems challenging right? How can we even imagine a world that lasts a heartbeat when humans tend to live between seventy to ninety years? While our lives don’t last an exact heartbeat, our lives are quite short compared to how old the Earth actually is. We have not been here for a long time, and we will not be here for a long time. The message Demulder is telling us using this poem is that we must savor every year that we are granted on this planet, and especially seize every opportunity we can. My favorite line from the poem is “Look up. The fireworks have started. Kiss me. They will be gone so soon” because it leaves the reader with a positive feeling. As a reader,  I am more inclined to follow what Demulder is advising me to do by her ending the poem like this because I can relate to not wanting a moment to end.

After analyzing this poem, I have grown to like it. The title makes me enjoy this poem quite a lot because it is a “Happy New Year” if you get to celebrate being present in the moment for a little while longer. Each new year, whether it is your birthday or New Year’s Eve, is an occasion to celebrate.

Question: What do you think about the concept of New Years?

Boynton Beach 4th Of July Fireworks - Boca Post

Comments

  1. Michael HakimOctober 25, 2022 at 7:17 PM

    I find this poem to be very interesting. I really enjoy the comparisons made here and the unique thinking gave me a new perspective on New Years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jack YesnerNovember 1, 2022 at 8:58 PM

    Condensing all of the Earth's history really puts into perspective human existence. In comparison to the Earth's billion years, we exist for just a microsecond of time, so all of our problems are so insignificant. On the other hand, Earth has existed for so long unharmed, and seemingly in an instant is threatened by man-made threats like nuclear weapons and climate change. We should make sure the Earth remains in a good state so we, and everyone in the future, can keep celebrating the New Year as Demulder described.

    ReplyDelete

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