The Big New Year Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The Eve

Today is the last day of 2019
Later people will fill restaurants to eat overpriced chicken,
Drink cheap champagne get jolly and sing in
The New Year makes promises for 2020 that will not be kept.
Wake on the first day, look out of the window and
See the day has not changed.
It has been a fraught year with conflicts nearly spilling over
To a world war and millions of people are desperate to find
A place where bombs do not fall.
For me having lived through it all it is a miracle for which I'm
Grateful most of the time. I had a moment of fear when
I knocked on my wife's bedroom and she at first didn't answer
Without her, living would have been pointless.
Tonight, we'll eat at a small restaurant, go home drink some wine
And watch the unfolding on TV.
To sit beside her, sharing a blanket, the night is cold is a pleasure
No one should be denied.