Predictions have swirled for years. Distant hooves galloping towards us with warnings, almost too surreal to be believed. Though mocked as “sensationalists” and “extremists,” the watchmen nonetheless can’t un-see the approaching dust clouds.

Survival has been my mode for so long that I just assumed it’s what life requires. Not that less is demanded of me now, but like a dog sniffing into the autumn wind, I’m sensing a change.

The final storm is approaching;

Hellish stressors, diseases, and lies.

The dreams we held as human rights,

Torn from us, pulverized.

If 2014 treated you harshly, you are not alone. So many solid, sincere souls echo the shared lamentation: This year was rough! Not just “I’m exhausted/disappointed/stressed out” rough – no, this was the kind of wicked, whipping torment more akin to a hurricane relentlessly pounding on people already shipwrecked, just barely holding on to the remnants of their man-made security for sheer survival.