Resolutions

I will use
whiskey only

for gargling.
I will argue

that dogs are
U.S. citizens, too.

I will compare work
to a strip search.

I will stare at you
as if you were

someone else.
I will call it war

rather than
armed conflict,

and in my head,

I will see myself
spiraling down

in orange flames.
I will admire

the dainty feet
of a hugely

fat woman.
I will place birds

like commas
around the yard.

_______________________

Howie Good, a journalism professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author of 12 poetry chapbooks, including most recently My Heart Draws a Rough Map from The Blue Hour Press and Ghosts of Breath from Bedouin Books. He has been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize and five times for the Best of the Net anthology. His first full-length book of poetry, Lovesick, was released in 2009 by Press Americana. He is co-editor of the online literary journal Left Hand Waving.