from The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Big O
Friday, December 31, 1999

O heart green acre sown with salt
by the departing occupier
James Merrill

Odometer turning with a long coo of wonder
Omega meeting Alpha
Ode to scarred century, torn and mended

O heart
O wolf’s tender belly, a gathering howl

O yes you feel it
Once you
Opened to the history we made, the light we broke
Only the end of time could darken its knowing, hopeful smile

O fire and flood
O longing
Oh

Cassie MacDonald

The author is a poet and lawyer living in South Philadelphia. Her poem, provided courtesy of Writers House at the University of Pennsylvania, is one of a series on the Commentary Page celebrating the turn of the year/the century/the millennium/everything.