Tonight… we stand together.
At midnight, another year ends.
The calendar will change, we will celebrate.
But the faces— the same tired faces.
Lights go wild… Glasses clink.
Habits pretend to be smiles.
We say— come on,
let’s count last year’s happy days.
But some things cannot be counted.
No one marks
the moment a heart breaks.
No one headlines
the day a soul grows tired.
We know this: pain is lived in silence.
The weight always lands on the same shoulders.
Hey, New Year!
We did not come with decorations with gifts.
We came with our worn-down lives.
What crushes us, what pushes us away
from being human— do not carry them with you.
Leave them in the year that’s leaving.
Less fear.
Less silence.
Not mornings that all look the same—
but days that can be lived as human beings.
Dr Barbaros İrdelmen
Istanbul/Turkey, December 2025
