When I was
asked to write a New Year’s blog type thing I set my mind in motion. I thought
long a hard, scrunching up my nose and closing my eyes so tight that they felt
like they would never open again, just to get that extra bit of thunk out of my
head. I looked at the theme ‘Resolution(s)’ and allowed myself to remember all
the New Year’s resolutions I haven’t kept over the years. I could recall every
last one of them up to 1992. You see, this was the year that I actually managed
to keep one.
I resolved
to never make any such 1st of January promises ever again; and I have stuck to
that promise. I know it doesn’t look like it - after all I have written a couple
of books, published a collection of poems and, as started on the 1st of 2015, I
am currently writing a poem a day in my #365poems project. However, none of
these were resolutions. I at no point wrote down a list, or exclaimed to anyone
that “come the New Year I will make sure…”
Yes the
#365poems started as the year began, but that was just an arbitrary marker,
much like the New Year itself. Because I am numbering the poems and not dating
them, it is so much easier in the future to trace back to a day when a
particular poem was written if both the first poem and the first day share the
same numeric value.
I set
myself goals regardless of the day. I have found over the years that I’m much
better at achieving goals than keeping promises to myself. Goals have a finish
line, goals can move with your life and do not have to be fixed, and you can’t let
yourself down with a goal after the first week.
As the
clock struck midnight on the 31st of December 1991 and it was time for my ‘92
resolution, I decided to try and rid my life of disappointment, accept that
things fail, it’s OK to be sad from time to time and to give myself time to
succeed at whatever I choose to do.
What I have
built for myself since then is a life with no regrets, with highs and lows and
with people I love. Everything else is just gravy. I challenge myself because I
can, I push myself because I want to and I’m not disappointed because the next
success is only round the corner.
Here is the
first of my #365poems, thank you for reading.
1: Happy
New Day
Happy New
Day
I wish you
health and happiness
That
opportunities present themselves
And luck
bless your every step
And as the
day unfolds
I hope you
smile and cheer
As the
promises you made to yourself
Are
fulfilled and dreams become tangible
I touch the
air of winter’s lust
Covering
all I own in the outside world
With a
layer of frozen moisture
That
excites my fingers
The park is
full of wistful thinking
A family is
left out in the cold
And the man
in the pink top leaves the bandstand
With a
broken heart
A
melancholy realisation
So that was
Christmas
And a Happy
New Day
Let’s hope
it’s a good one
But before
the countdown begins
I have one
last wish
That the
next 365 days
Are not
filled with hate
Colin Davies
0 comments:
Post a Comment