People might call it the blues but it's not,
blue that is.
It's grey.
January is a grey month.
It infects us all with its greyness ...in my opinion.
The month begins with a bang,
literally.
Gunpowder is for wars,
or mining,
not pleasure.
Money going up in smoke.
It should be banned ...in my opinion.
As soon as the pyrotechnics cease,
the resolution-making begins;
new diet, new fitness regime, new hobby.
They never last.
You might as well make a resolution a day
(some call this a to-do list)
then at least you stand a chance of success ...in my opinion.
It's a month of long nights,
short days
unforgiving north-easterly gales.
They conspire to wear us down,
deplete our energy
dampen our mood ...in my opinion.
It's a month of coughs, colds, flu, bronchitis
and, if we're not careful,
pneumonia.
There's no magic cure,
even though health food adverts tell us otherwise.
It's all a matter of luck ...in my opinion.
Then I step out of the kitchen door.
I share a gust of biting wind
with a lone hellebore.
It's a sign,
a reminder that spring is on its way,
and though we're not yet through with the cold,
the sun is rising in the sky,
the evenings are getting lighter
and so are our spirits ...in my opinion.
