New Year Poems

I could never get my Chanukah and/or Christmas cards out in time, so I started sending cards for the new year instead. Then I decided I liked it better—non-partisan, metaphorically rich. In 1980, I drew this picture, and used it as my card. The next year, I wrote a poem, illustrated it, and that became the card. Over the years, these yearly missives have become very precious to me, the emotional read-outs of my year in poetry and picture—the closest I’ll ever get to those once-upon-a-time- xeroxed "what I did this year" letters.

New Year Poems

Pick A Poem:

Poem #44 - New Year Poem 2024-25

MAKE A MOVE

Now.
Or now.

Whether forced or chosen.
Any move you make
Moves you.
Whether craved or resisted.
Any change changes you.

Shifts are unsettling.
You may be uneasy about
What gets broken, lost.
Change happens.
Loss happens.
With or without your hand.
You may freeze—fearing falling, flailing,
Faltering, failing.
But the more you fall, the sooner you learn
How to get up,
Recover, repair, rebuild.
The more you flail,
Falter, the more you sense
How to regain equilibrium.
The more you fail, the more you see
Success demands—requires—
Failure.

Make a move.
Now.
Or now.

Take a breath.
Catch a breeze.
Like riding a bicycle
Your legs pushing pedals
Going round and round
Build strength.
Gain balance.
Find a way.
Forward.
Beyond thought.
Beyond instruction.
The internal systems
Never forget.

You just have to
Make a move.

Shellen Lubin
December, 2024