In this year
I don’t want
To be anything
To anyone else
I want to
Be just me
For and by
Myself and all
Of the others
Well they can
And should and
Probably will be
Themselves for themselves
And then maybe
And just maybe
They will see
In me what
They have not
And I in
Turn will see
Hopefully that too
Here is my
New Year’s resolution
I promise myself
I will have
Peace love affection
Respect kindness compassion
Wit sarcasm frivolity
With whomever I
Ever do encounter
And that will
Bring us joy
And will bring
Us forever closer
And never apart
I decided to leave
Much of what remained
Of my past in
2022 I just didn’t
Or was unwilling to
You know drag those
Bags ahead with me
Because here’s the thing
Those who gave me
The bags which I
Continue to carry on
Aren’t here to help
My back is sore
Have you ever thought
That maybe just maybe
You were placed in
Someone else’s path not
To find your happiness
But for them to
Find theirs not in
You but past you
What if we stopped
Looking for what we
Want and rather be
What the other needs
So that they can
Be their best self
We all hang on
Vines some of us
Are picked but most
Of us spend forever
Hanging and basking in
The sun and shiver
In the night hoping
But never ever knowing
For certain that the
Sun will warm again
Those are the those
Who choose to wither
They choose comfort over
Discomfort they choose to
Be next years compost
Rather than this years
Yield how you may
Ask then how does
One on the vine
Who isn’t picked become
Part of the yield
They time their jump
Precisely into the hands
Of the picker most
Fail but isn’t the
Hope of being something
Else worth the risk
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 