May 2026 remember us not for what we feared, but for the humanity we chose.

After a year
that taught us how fragile the world still is,
how easily homes become dust,
how names turn into numbers,
how silence follows the innocent
far too often.

2025 carried sorrow
across borders and oceans—
children who never learned peace,
families broken by decisions
they never voted for,
lands emptied by hunger,
skies darkened by fire
that should never have fallen.

We step into this new year
aware now—
that being human
is not guaranteed by birth,
but proven by choice.

We can be better today
than we were yesterday.
Not louder.
Not stronger.
But kinder.
More awake.
More unwilling to look away.

Because at any moment,
any one of us
could have been among the thousands
who lost their freedom,
their future,
their breath—
for causes that were never theirs,
for wars they did not start,
for systems that forgot their names.

Let 2026 be a year
that remembers faces,
not flags.
Lives,
not sides.
Truth,
not power.

Let us measure progress
not by growth or gain,
but by how many we protect,
how many we feed,
how many we refuse to sacrifice
for ambition dressed as justice.

May this be the year
we choose humanity
over history repeating itself.
Where compassion is no longer naïve,
and peace is no longer postponed.

The world does not need saving heroes.
It needs responsible humans—
people who understand
that tomorrow is built
by what we refuse to accept today.

2026 stands before us,
not promising miracles,
only offering a chance.

May we be worthy of it.

— The Wandering Pen ✍️