January, February
It’s January, all must change
my resolutions cry it!
I’ll clean the cupboards, shine the glass
completely change my diet.
The constant list of things I need
has changed from Christmas treats
to organizers, storage boxes,
and a set of sheets.
It’s February, nothing’s changed
the bathroom scales decry it
(that frozen stash of Christmas treats
has sabotaged my diet).
The hopeful list of things I pledged
discreetly tucked away.
Ten months to do just as I please
until next New Year’s day.
© 2004 – Time of Singing, Winter 2004-2005 (also published in Calendar, 2004)
****************
Happy New Year!
Today’s poem is a re-post. It first appeared here in 2009, but I wrote it long before that. I’m afraid it’s the ongoing story of my New Year’s Resolutions. Some things never change!
This post is part of Poetry Friday. You will find many more Poetry Friday poems linked at Betsy’sI Think in Poems blog.
Violet Nesdoly 
Oh goodness, you are not alone on this one. Don’t we all make grandiose plans for the New Year? Here’s to a good new year and a little luck to you as well.
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Thanks Betsy! Glad I have company.
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This is a poem for the ages. 🙂 You can’t argue with a frozen stash of Christmas treats, can you?
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Ha! You got that right, Tabatha. Those frozen treats have voices that reach through layers of house … I hear them calling from the basement right to my office on the upper floor!
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Ha, ha! I do have a frozen stash, & don’t know what to do with the leftover fudge except ‘eat it’! Your ideas for these two months are so right, Violet. Happy to have you share it again. Perhaps it will serve as a reminder if posted on the refrigerator? Happy New Year!
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Yes Linda, taped to the doors of fridge, freezer, perhaps the drawer too, from where the dried apricots and figs argue, “But I’m good for you!”
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I love it, Violet! It sounds very similar to Pam Ayres.
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Happy New Year, Catherine! Pam Ayres you say? Wow, that’s high praise indeed. You make my day 🙂
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I’ve just read her latest You made me Late Again. It’s brilliant!
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I sure can relate! Every year, it seems I set the same goals. Some day, I’ll accomplish them (I hope.) Loved your poem!
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Love it, and live it, too!
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Thanks Tara and Linda! Good to know I’m not in this boat alone.
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Sounds like your resolution should be not to make resolutions! 😉 Enjoyed your poem, though, and now I’m off to sneak another Christmas treat.
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I know, but whether I keep them or not, it’s always fun to make new ones. One feels so hopeful. Maybe this time…
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Love this–thanks for the laugh. Unfortunately I think most of us can relate to this poem (yikes, I didn’t even bother making resolutions this year!)
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Buffy, maybe no resolutions means you’re content with life, which is always a good thing! Happy New Year!
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Ha! Good ol’ February, forgives all and hands us another cookie. (Not THIS year, I say. THIS year will be different!! — another HA! –)
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Yep! Reminds me of Margaret Atwood’s poem February: “Winter. Time to eat fat…”
Maybe the cold is another reason we find it so hard to diet. You think?
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Broke every one of my resolutions by the end of Day One of 2014. It’s hopeless. Thanks for the poem – definitely worth pinning up on the refrigerator door!
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Thanks Julie! I wonder if any of us are still on track by the end of the second week of January, say, let alone the end of the month. But even the thought of those resolves probably pushes us to better things. I refuse to give up hope 🙂
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Ha! Good one!
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Thanks Ruth! 😉
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You made me smile . . . over the notebook I organized today for keeping our bank statements and receipts straight. Like you, I can’t seem to give up hope that *this year* will be different. Thanks for making me feel normal. It happens so rarely! 😉
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“Hope springs eternal” they say? Something about a new calendar just begs for new resolves. Good luck in keeping yours Keri! 🙂
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I always put organization at the top of my list of resolutions because it is a major challenge for me. I love the attitude for February, once you’ve blown it, you’ve blown it for the whole year!
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Thanks Margaret,
Yeah, what is it about how resolutions tried but not kept feel tarnished? Or maybe its a defence mechanism to keep us from trying (and failing) again?
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Love this, Violet! So true, especially, “that frozen stash of Christmas treats has sabotaged my diet”. That happens to me every year! =)
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Thanks Bridget! I heard a nutritionist this week speak of how we should pitch out those treats. Ouch! How could we?! Yet it may be the only way to a new start.
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