New Year’s Letter, 2018: How Not to Die
Diet is a good place to begin
Then exercise, of course,
And as much love
As you are capable of, spread
In as many directions as possible
Sex, too, is a good thing,
Especially when accompanied by tenderness
And generosity
And don’t forget the weather–
All kinds, inclement and otherwise.
Learn to love the rain, the sleet,
The vast asymmetry of the stars
If someone speaks badly of you,
Kiss them many times
Until they are breathless
And if you are betrayed
By a friend or a lover
Bake cookies for them, cakes
Dip their noses in the bright peonies
That have just emerged in your garden.
Try hard to pretend
Donald Trump is not President
Of the United States. Imagine instead
It is Nelson Mandela
Or a distant cousin from Kiev
Dream hard, wake in the middle of the night
And write them down
Then read them to the first nuthatch
That arrives at your feeder
If you are hungry for things
That are not good for you
Eat them anyway, then repent
By giving your dog a big kiss
On the mouth. Clothes
That no longer fit should be
Cut up and fashioned into
Abstract collages, food
That has gone bad in the frig
Should be left there
In perpetual hope of resurrection
Make long lists
Of everyone who has ever hurt you
Then crumple them up
And roast marshmallows with them
Or else pork fat on toast
Spend all your money, quickly,
Or at least enough of it
So that your children will not need
To weep in eternal gratitude
When they visit your grave.
Pretend, now, that you will live
Forever, put your arms around
Every self-help book you have
Ever bought and read them aloud
To the grasses. Then pray for rain
Watch them grow. Learn to dance.
in memoriam, Adrian McElwee
21 January 1989- 23 December 2016