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 / poems 
Betsy Hubbard
January 3, 2014 at 5:04 am
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 7:42 pm
Thanks Betsy! Glad I have company.
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Tabatha
January 3, 2014 at 6:47 am
This is a poem for the ages. 🙂 You can’t argue with a frozen stash of Christmas treats, can you?
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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 7:18 am
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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Linda Baie
January 3, 2014 at 7:13 am
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 7:19 am
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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Catherine Johnson
January 3, 2014 at 8:23 am
I love it, Violet! It sounds very similar to Pam Ayres.
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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 9:34 am
Happy New Year, Catherine! Pam Ayres you say? Wow, that’s high praise indeed. You make my day 🙂
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Catherine Johnson
January 3, 2014 at 9:36 am
I’ve just read her latest You made me Late Again. It’s brilliant!
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ldk
January 3, 2014 at 8:36 am
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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Tara Smith
January 3, 2014 at 9:32 am
Love it, and live it, too!
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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 9:35 am
Thanks Tara and Linda! Good to know I’m not in this boat alone.
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Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
January 3, 2014 at 10:47 am
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 7:37 pm
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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Buffy Silverman
January 3, 2014 at 2:33 pm
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 7:37 pm
Buffy, maybe no resolutions means you’re content with life, which is always a good thing! Happy New Year!
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Mary Lee Hahn
January 3, 2014 at 2:51 pm
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 7:40 pm
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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Julie Larios
January 3, 2014 at 3:14 pm
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 3, 2014 at 7:47 pm
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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haitiruth
January 4, 2014 at 11:35 am
Ha! Good one!
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Violet Nesdoly
January 4, 2014 at 9:39 pm
Thanks Ruth! 😉
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Keri Collins Lewis
January 4, 2014 at 1:55 pm
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 4, 2014 at 9:38 pm
“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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margaretsmn
January 4, 2014 at 4:55 pm
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 4, 2014 at 9:37 pm
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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Bridget Magee
January 5, 2014 at 2:01 pm
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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Violet Nesdoly
January 5, 2014 at 5:10 pm
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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