Tag: January

Clean Sweep – A January Haibun

Normally my mood would have been set back in December knowing the New Year was looming.  Historically January has been a difficult month for me as it represented family loss, illness and personal heartache.  This year however things will be different.  I decided at least a month ago that changes had to be made in my life and I took a leap of faith.  By mid-December, and with the encouragement of my family and friends, I was completely focused on the changes and determined to stick to the plan, doing my best to go in the direction I needed without hurting another. 

This New Year’s Eve, for the first time in many years, I actually celebrated instead of staying home and decrying a celebration as something that never applied to me.  Why welcome a miserable month?  So with much joy I released the past like a snake shedding its skin.  I’ll be honest, it was not easy, and there were definitely some bumps in the road to test my resilience, but I am on track.

Challenges face us all the time.  Sometimes they are in disguise and we don’t immediately recognize them and before we realize it, they have consumed us. There comes a point where we have to look them straight in the eye and decide if we are going to be conquered or fight back. 

Stay strong, make your resolutions and stick to them.  Happy January and a happy and healthy New Year!

Don't ever look back
For it will slow your progress
Your choice has been made


Copyright © 2023 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved


Kim, from Writing in North Norfolk is the host for D'Verse Poets Monday Haibun.
She has asked us to share our thoughts on this New Year.

Photo by Adonyi Gábor on Unsplash

To Hell With You Janus

To Hell With You Janus

Janus you are two-faced
A god who wants it both ways
Pedantic and limiting
One face looking back,
your rush for us to end a year
One face looking forward,
you fill us with expectations
Promising us all that is new
is, as always, deceitful
 
This month named for you
has come to be
the darkest of my life
Your wicked vendetta 
year after year
has robbed me of a parent,
and given my husband to another.
You cursed a loved one
with brain tumors
and now you destroy
another marriage.
 
Casting your long shadows
on my life has ended
I return this month to you
For I do not see you anymore
I do not know you
I never knew you
There is no end or beginning
No old or new
 
It just is
 
 
 
Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Sanaa, from A Dash of Sunny, is hosting Open Link
Night at D'verse Poets Pub tonight.

Word Prompts

Vendetta - Word of the Day
Long Shadows - RDP
Pedantic - FOWC

Enough Already

Enough Already

A year wished
to be forgotten
from the first
January day
Testing strength
and perseverance
Love and hate
An existence put
on hiatus while
hidden horrors
played Russian roulette
with hearts and minds
Slaves to medicines
and opinions                            
Mixed feelings haunting
and undermining 
Toying and tricking
Tripping and taunting
with theoretical tripe
Praying for this
year to end
 
 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©

Word Prompts:

Year - Stream of Consciousness
Hiatus - Word of the Day
Theoretical - FOWC
Mixed Feelings - RDP


Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Haibun Monday

January was named for Janus, the God of new beginnings and gateways, who had two faces. One looking back to the old year and the other looking forward to the new year.  It is tradition that we cast away the trappings and events of the previous year and look forward to the new one with hope.

I think that could be an unattainable goal.  If you have experienced great joy over the Christmas holiday then you are absolutely coming down from a love and food high and the New Year can be a non event.  If your year starts with sorrow, you will experience misery every January thereafter.

January holds little excitement in the Northern Hemisphere. Cold, snow and freezing weather for most.  Even in a sub tropical climate like Florida it can be chilly.  I often wonder if those living in the Southern Hemisphere experience the same feeling in July.   Hmmmmm!

This Haiku best describes my feeling every January.

January

Sunshine does not come
The Sky is grey and moody
A feeling of gloom


Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©

In response to D'Verse Poets Haibun Monday hosted by Kim
Description of January plus a Haiku on a season

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