Recipe for a Happy New Year
Author Unknown

Take twelve whole months.
Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness,
hate, and jealousy.
Make them just as fresh and clean as possible.

Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, or
thirty-one different parts,
but don't make up the whole batch at once.
Prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients.

Mix well into each day one part of faith,
one part of patience, one part of courage,
and one part of work.
Add to each day one part of hope,
faithfulness, generosity, and kindness.
Blend with one part prayer, one part meditation,
and one good deed.
Season the whole with a dash of good spirits,
a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play,
and a cup full of good humor.

Pour all of this into a vessel of love.
Cook thoroughly over radiant joy,
garnish with a smile,
and serve with quietness, unselfishness,
and cheerfulness.
You're bound to have a happy new year.

The Twelve Months
by George Ellis

SNOWY, Flowy, Blowy,
Showery, Flowery, Bowery,
Hoppy, Croppy, Droppy,
Breezy, Sneezy, Freezy.

The Month Poem
There are many versions of this poem.
The author of this version is unknown.

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
February has twenty-eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting Leap-Year, that's the time
When February's days are twenty-nine.

The following may be the original version.

Thirty days hath November,
April, June, and September,
February hath xxviii alone,
And all the rest have xxxi.
- Richard Grafton, the Chronicles of England (1590)

The New Year
Author Unknown

The New Year lies before you
Like a spotless tract of snow
Be careful how you tread on it
For every mark will show.