As we begin a new year, the staff of The Emperor Grapevine waxed poetic about things they wanted to see burn from 2025.  Here is a sampling:

“Burning the Names”

    by Heidi Belknap

I burn the names of people from 2025, 

ink peeling as the paper curls inward.

Voices I carried longer than I should have

rose in smoke and finally let me breathe.

Their laughter cracks in the fire,

sharp, then gone without apology.

I watch the flames erase old footsteps,

paths I kept walking out of habit.

When the ashes cool, the night feels wider–

No shadows calling me back.

I step forward with empty hands, 

learning how quiet can mean open, not alone.

“The Burn of Goodbye”

    by Isabella Gonzalez

You left too quickly, like a candle in the rain 

 I said goodbye over the phone, 

your eyes never looked at me the same

Yet as you lie and my family weep 

The happy memories of you flow easily into my mind 

As tears ran down my face 

Everyone else only felt one emotion: sadness 

While I felt two, the sadness that you were gone, and the joy of knowing you 

I carry that shame in my heart that I had a smile on my face 

As you sleep with no chance of waking up

So I burn this letter, my letter of goodbye 

As the burn ends fly into the sky 

I know you’re up there with family I have and haven’t met

And one day I’ll be with you again. 

“Burning My Sick Days” 

    by Jazlyn Jacobo 

I burned the hospital bracelets 

they placed on my wrist each visit, 

thin but secured,

always reminding me where I had been. 

I burn away the long nights spent in waiting rooms,

the pressure of the blood pressure cuff, 

and hearing different diagnoses each time

that seemed to be the case every visit.

I let the fire take it all away

the fear I had of getting worse,

the fear of never feeling better,

and the fear of those waiting room chairs. 

Once the flame died, I thought about what was next,

the mornings I’d wake up being able to smell clearly, 

and learning to keep my body well. 

“A Brand New Year”

    by Hailey Lopez

A brand new year

A brand new chapter

2025, the end is almost here.

I get rid of the person I used to be. 

I now shed the skin of what once was,

where the shadows danced, and sorrows gathered.

With my trembling hands, I am now saying goodbye, 

Ghosts of love underneath a fading sky. 

No backward glance, no lingering tear,

A future waits, banishing all fear. 

“I let it burn”

    by Yuliana Martinez

I burned the old year with shaking hands,

it reeked of lust dressed up as love.

Promises tasted sweet at first,

then left blood on my tongue.

Bodies were genuine,

but hearts learned how to lie.

I was wanted in the dark,

but betrayed the moment feelings arrived.

I fed the fire his touch,

The nights that meant nothing to him.

Let the flames swallow desire

that was never planned to stay.

I entered the new year scarred,

But no longer confused.

Because if it costs me my dignity,

It was never love to begin with.

“The Death of Regret”

    by Emely Vasquez 

Every thought my mind has replayed

Shrinks as it’s consumed by flames 

As the ashes ascend into the sky 

It reminds me of how much I resent my mind.

I think about all of the times

In which I didn’t do something right.

Some might say it is a fear of regret

But every choice I make, to me, is a threat

What will happen if I don’t reach my best?

The thoughts now hug the fire that it ignites

I watch them slowly disappear as they die

Although those thoughts are no longer alive

My mind still seems to bring them back to life.

No more pressing rewind

As it’s all cremated in 2025.