Today’s poem is “The New Year” by Barbara Crooker. Link to Whale Road Review
The New Year by Barbara Crooker
When a door bangs shut, a window doesn’t open.
Sometimes, it slams on your fingers. God often
gives us more than we can handle. A sorrow
shared is a sorrow multiplied. There’s a bottle
of Champagne waiting to be uncorked,
but it’s not for you. Nobody wants another poem.
The prize-winning envelope has someone else’s name
on it. This year you already know you’re not going
to lose those ten pounds. How can you feel hope,
when the weight of last year’s rejections is enough
to bury you? Still, the empty page craves the pen,
wants to feel the black ink unscrolling on its skin.
In spite of everything, you sit at your desk and begin.
Prompts: 1. What new year resolutions have failed? Which ones were successful? 2. Make a list of anti-new year resolutions. What do you resolve NOT to do this year? 3. Begin a draft with “Nobody wants...” 4. Begin a draft with “In spite of everything...” 5. In the poem, objects have human characteristics: “Champagne waiting to be”, “page craves the pen,/...ink unscrolling on its skin”. Write a draft that uses this literary device of personification.
