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January arrives without parade or drum, the year steps forward, quiet, numb.
After the lights, the speeches, the cheer, this is the month that asks us to hear.
On January 15, a voice still calls, Dr. King’s dream walks unfinished halls. Not in slogans, not in praise, but in how we live our ordinary days.
All month long, mentors quietly stand, guiding lives with a steady hand.
No spotlight follows where they go, but their patience shapes more than they know.
January 11 reminds us to see those lost to trade and cruelty— Human trafficking, hidden in plain sight, thriving where silence dims the light.
On January 16, belief stands free, Religious Freedom, conscience and plea.
Faith carried softly, not imposed, a private fire no law can close.
Then January 20, power turns key, Inauguration, ceremony.
Hands are shaken, vows are sworn, while citizens watch, hopeful, worn.
And on January 27, memory stays, Holocaust Remembrance, sober days.
A promise kept by remembering names, so history doesn’t repeat its flames.
January doesn’t ask us to cheer.
It asks us to notice, remember, stay near. To carry these dates not just on a page, but into the work of our shared civic age.
- Marin Vale
