new year – Susan Koefod

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Hello 2015

January 1, 2015 Susan Koefod

You lie asleep,

deep in dreams,

deaf to all our

whispered wishes that

somehow you –

the fresh babe of the New Year —

will deliver all we have been denied,

resolve all our sorrows

in the coming tomorrows.

We’ve tasked you with

rectifying bad habits,

sad outlooks,

bettering our butts,

improving our paychecks,

forgetting lifetimes of regret—

in short: affirmation, dammit

that we all deserve, right?

It’s a lot to ask

of a one-day old,

slumbering peacefully

in the dark.

We all kiss you at

midnight,

drunk in

your new baby smell

shouting you be

Happy New Year,

by which we mean that

you will do everything,

little one,

to make us happy,

finally happy.

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How to Spot Positive Signs

December 31, 2013December 31, 2013 Susan Koefod

I’ve seen some folks’ troubles here and there across the Internet in the past few days. I’m here to help you start the New Year right by helping you to watch for positive signs.

Sometimes it’s in the way the fast-food server remembers to hand you a plastic knife. Or in the casually discussed weather report, drifting from the next table over.

Signs that things might be looking up, when for a time they have been not, are found in this recent poem of mine — Upswing. Thanks to the folks over at Lief Magazine for publishing this broadside last year. It’s worth a read, with a cameo appearance by Jerry of Culvers, West St. Paul.

Happy New Year. And remember not to be too hard on yourself!