2017

My Resolution Will Not Be Televised

after Gil Scott-Heron

You will not be able to discover it from your sofa, brother.
You will not be able to sit there under the cat, sister,
remote control in one hand, phone in the other,
and put the kettle on during the ad breaks,
because my resolution will not be televised.

My resolution will not be tweeted.
My resolution will not be announced on Twitter.com
in 140 characters of self-promoting concision
to be retweeted by Ricky Gervais in between posts
concerning animal cruelty and the release date of his latest film.
My resolution will not be tweeted.
My resolution will not be televised.

My resolution will not be Facebooked.
My resolution will not feature next to an inspirational quote
set against the backdrop of a soaring mountain or a mirror-blue lake.
My resolution will not be posted beside a shining infographic
illustrating how many kilos I have lost, how many pennies
I have saved, how many drinks I have not drunk.
My resolution will not be Facebooked.
My resolution will not be tweeted.
My resolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures on Instagram
of kale soup and black bean-quinoa salad.
There will be no pictures on Instagram
Of NutriBullet breakfast smoothies.

My resolution will not be vlogged.
My progress will not be revealed to you
in a twenty-minute daily video diary
documenting my trials and tribulations
whilst being brought to you in association
with John Lewis, Iceland and Marks and Spencer
and my resolution will not be right back after a message
about my brand new range of eyebrow pencils.
My resolution will not be vlogged.
There will be no pictures on Instagram.
My resolution will not be Facebooked.
My resolution will not be tweeted.
My resolution will not be televised.

My resolution will not be available to preorder
on DVD, Blu Ray, CD-Rom, VHS or Betamax, brother.
My resolution will not be prerecorded or livestreamed, sister.
My resolution will not be part of a thought-provoking video installation
and exhibited in a Museum of Modern Art to critical acclaim.
My resolution will not survive more than two days.
My resolution will not be televised.

Your 2017 Haiku Horoscopes

Capricorn

Trousers start to sag
as your pockets bulge with coins.
A year of much change.

Aquarius

You join the circus.
Retrain as tightrope walker.
Good work-life balance.

Pisces

You leave the city
to become a sheep shearer.
New year, a new ewe.

Aries

On Twitter you find
your new haiku horoscope.
It tells you little.

Taurus

You hate your star sign.
Disgruntled, you convert to
Capricornism.

Gemini

Mars enters the sphere
of concupiscent Venus.
Not sure what that means.

Cancer

The year drifts past you
in TV shows and hot food.
Netflix and chilli.

Leo

You date all your cheques
with the year twenty sixteen
until November.

Virgo

You stare at your phone,
look up briefly in July,
then stare at your phone

Libra

At last you make it!
That flat pack IKEA desk
from their Croydon store.

Scorpio

You decide to stop
thinking about anagrams
and sort out your file.

Sagittarius

Year of good fortune.
Not once do you encounter
Jeremy Clarkson.