to the year that has passed, with all its happenstance
so long
to the battles i lost and crosswords unsolved
farewell
to the sky that does not know if it wants to snow or shine
may you find peace
to all the leaves now fallen from the sycamore tree
i wave from my window
to all the dead batteries in the back of the desk drawer
i’m sure we’ll meet again
to last year’s new year’s eve seven layer dip
still on the bottom shelve of the fridge
sorry i let you down
to the empty gum wrapper blowing around in the gutter
live long, live well
to cable news and the loons who scream on the bus
good show
to all books with dusty dust covers that i plan to read
but never do
have faith
to all the potholes on east alameda
avenue that never get fixed
stay true
and to the new year that approaches and all of its verve
i say
ok
Delightful poetic commentary on the end of 2021! Hoping for an improved 2022!
ReplyDeletethanks helen, youre good people hope had a wonderful new year!
Delete<3
ReplyDeleteI can’t wait to see what the year brings you. Loads and loads of verve, I hope. (I love that word.)
it was fun matching "verve" with "ok", its like the most lackluster new year's toast ever =)
DeleteI still haven’t even had my sparkling grape juice yet.
DeleteHonestly, the whole holiday concept is designed to make people spend a bunch of money and/or feel sad. Kudos to people who don’t make a big deal out of it all. We’d do better to omit holidays between Halloween and V-Day. ~I do love candy, costumes, and color. <3
the holidays don't bother me so much, i don't pay attention really. to me christmas is always more about children, when children are around christmas is fun, and don't get into new years, it was fun when i was young and partied all the time. i make plans and set goals all the time, i've never needed a special day to make plans. i understand holidays as "get togethers", and yeah, all the consumerism is kind of a bummer, but what can you do? can't throw a rock without hitting at least 15 salesmen.
DeleteDid you get good news from the doctor today?
Deletehey, good timing!
Deleteno not really, she wants me to walk with a little wait on it, but no stairs, so can't go home, also, she think i lost a little bit of the correction, which is not detrimental, but also not good
how are you?
I was really hoping you would get fantastic news today and get to go home. When’s your next check-in with her?
DeleteI’m fine—got the deep-cleaning bug today. Yesterday was a bit rough, anxiety-wise, but staying busy helps.
i meet with her next week, i'm keeping my spirits up, just going to be careful and make sure i heal right
Deletethe cleaning bug huh. i just watched football. how do you deal with your anxiety? other than deep cleaning
What did she say to do differently?
DeleteIf it’s really bad, I take Benadryl. Otherwise, I just get into a novel and also try to sweat and move around as much as possible. I rearrange rooms. I try to minimize the number of objects in my space. I try to hone in on some “other.” ~Refocus an obsessive thought. Perseverative thoughts. That’s what they’re called—the ones that take control of us and eat away at our bellies.
... and listen to music.
Deletei see, sounds like good stuff.
Deletenothing different really, just wants me to keep the boot 24/7, i wwas taking it off for long periods of time, including to sleep, its hard to sleep with this thing on, now i have to. it may have gotten a little mis-aligned when i was asleep
anything new on your blog? is it online?
DeleteWear that boot, kid!
DeleteYeah, I wrote for Shay’s list. You gonna?
i copied down the list a few hours ago, i'll mess around with it in the morning, see what pops. i didn't a bunch of writing today already and my mind is word soup
Deletedid, not didn't. see, word soup
DeleteI’m so glad to hear that. <3 As long as you’re writing something, somewhere. ~Best of luck with whatever you produce; so much good energy and healing power being sent to you, friend.
Deleteright back at ya
Deletehey, i thought you said you posted a poem for shay's word list? you messing with me or what? =)
DeleteI said I wrote one. :)
DeleteI get very spazzy internally when I link something, knowing full well I don’t belong among such gifted writers. It makes me physically ill afterward. Though you have been very nice, and I deeply appreciate it.
i understand everything you just said, more than you know, but that is your anxiety talking, stop listening to it. listen to me, you belong, you write excellent poetry, i wish you stop being so hard on yourself. but i understand exactly how all those knots feel, they feel awful. i'm about to post something totally experimental and weird, i'm dreading the dead silence i'm going to hear from the blogosphere, but oh well. i don't want to pressure you, it's your choice and i will respect that, but you are way better than you think
DeleteMaybe there’s an open-link at dverse tomorrow. You’ll probably get the most reads there. Your work is beyond amazing; I’m so crazy about it. It’s just hard to build a following on blogger, though I favor it for design purposes. If you really want more readership, you should consider using Wordpress and/or Twitter (to direct traffic here).You would build a much bigger following that way through the labeling and tagging systems.
Deletei don't know much about social media, never use it and don't really want to, my only internet presence is this blog. i tried wordpress first, and it woundn't allow me to do my weird line arrangements, also, you just changed the subject =) don't think i didn't notice =)
DeleteSame. But the Blogger revamp is also infuriating! I hate it so much. I can’t write more than like ten lines, unless I want to code my line breaks in the html box. Ugh. Not worth it.
Deletei don't know what blogger revamp means... you posting your poem?
DeleteThey made changes to how the platform works a while back. It’s affected my abilities.
DeleteIf I do, you’ll probably see it pop up.
well i really hope you do, i love reading your work
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ReplyDeleteThis is the perfect New Years poem for me, Phillip. It salutes the right things, adds some humor to the meh things, and puts the bad things where they belong, as much as they can be. I hope your new year is full of good things, my friend, starting with healing up and getting back in your own space.
ReplyDeletei thinking now that i should have called this poem "a salute to meh" =) thanks joy, glad you liked it, it was fun to write
DeleteI love this. It has all of your signature wry wit and eye for the telling detail, especially small things that you turn into delicious phrases. Happy New Year to you, and I have added your blog to my side bar. "To all the posts I missed last year...sorry about that. To next year's posts, see you in the fullness of time you beautiful little goblins."
ReplyDeleteheh, thank you shay, glad you liked, and i look forward to reading all of your new poems in the coming year as well, happy new year!
Delete