New Year’s Bring
New Year’s Bring
What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.”
–Vern McClellan
I consider potato salad,
but potato salad sort of says
‘summer.’
‘Focus’ sounds better,
but smacks of discipline,
and discipline sounds
like a bummer.
I’ve never owned a brand new car
but would never stoop–which I know doesn’t make sense
given its geometry or price, but at least rhymes–
to a Hummer.
Besides, what new year times
most raise in me
is the wish to do
a runner.
But, here I am–
an Eve past the eve,
sans potato salad,
with an undistinguished car
full of undistinguished dings
and no clear thought of what to bring
to that great ring ring
just knelled–
There just seems nothing in my fate
that is not well past
its best-used-by date
(and long ago not sold.)
I grow old, I grow old,
I shall wear my trousers
rolled–
hisses the poet, or his
doppleganger,
through my rumpled brain folds–
Sigh.
Yet the whimper-worn words also wrangle
a sly bang–
for I’ve always rather liked
rolled trousers.
****************************
For Susie Clevenger’s prompt on the New Year on With Real Toads to write a poem on a New Year aphorism. (Also, although it is not a particular numeric milestone, I just realized with some astonishment that this is my 1905th post on this blog. Crazy.)
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, Uncategorized
Tags: Eliot speaks to me in the New Year but says the same old things, manicddaily, New Year's Bring, New Year's poem, yes I know it is actually summer in the Southern Hemisphere--sorry
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ManicDDaily 
January 2, 2015 at 11:51 am
Your poem is very well constructed, given the rolling feeling of the stanzas which seem almost stream of consciousness. Great swing around to the Prufrock reference at the end.
January 2, 2015 at 12:16 pm
I enjoyed this so much – especially the rolled trousers!!!!!!! You would not BELIEVE the state of my car – it defies reason that it is still running! Actual chunks of it are falling off!!!! Smiled all the way through this poem!
January 2, 2015 at 12:21 pm
Ha. I am lucky enough to hardly ever drive and to be able to avoid dealing with cars much–but I know the brand you are talking about as we’ve had those too! Thanks, Sherry–happy new year. k.
On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 12:16 PM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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January 2, 2015 at 12:33 pm
My car has one headlight duct-taped in place. It has fallen out twice already.
As for rolled trousers, I’m with Sherry. I wore them as a youngster and am now wearing them again!
Wishing you the best the new year can bring you, dear Karin. (And I love your new year elephant.)
Luv, K
January 2, 2015 at 2:25 pm
This is a delight to read. Really marvelous movement.
January 2, 2015 at 3:13 pm
A bit of melancholy, a touch of humor, isn’t that really how we look back? May you enjoy your trousers rolled and continue to speak your amazing poetic voice. Thanks so much for taking part in the challenge.
January 2, 2015 at 3:14 pm
Wonderful to read.. the rhymes and slant-rhymes really put the right pace in it… as for cars, yes we can all have them or even live without them 🙂 and rolled up trousers is a must when bicycling 🙂
January 2, 2015 at 7:22 pm
This is fun, K!
January 2, 2015 at 7:43 pm
Fun rhymes and common down to earth philosophy. Happy New Year (a little late)
January 2, 2015 at 8:25 pm
Thanks so much, Debi. Same to you, K.
On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 7:43 PM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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January 2, 2015 at 8:00 pm
I love the drawing for this, k–and the potato salad. I think it’s a very good thing to bring to the new year’s buffet–but maybe a well-blended dish of metaphor and meander is more fitting. the alliteration at the end is better than parsley, too.
January 2, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Ha. It just seemed too silly to let go–I’ve never actually brought potato salad to anything! Thanks. k.
On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 8:00 PM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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January 3, 2015 at 9:41 am
I’m not sure that others are really getting the potato salad aspect. Thanks for mentioning it. k.
January 3, 2015 at 4:29 pm
You’re welcome! And thank you for overlooking my typo’d lack of capitalization in that last sentence. ;_)
January 3, 2015 at 2:22 am
I still remember the first car i bought –a 1990 oldsmobile in 2002. It had all sort of shortcomings but it got me to school every day. I like the honesty in your poem, it feels real and made me smile.
January 3, 2015 at 9:36 am
i’m smiling… daddy wore rolled trousers… as for the car… i’ll take a bike if the weather is nice… interesting write