It's cold, it's windy, dumped Christmas trees line the street outside my house and I won't hear 'Jingle Bells' for another 11 months. There are things to be done, resolutions to be made and a whole new year to embrace but for now I'm cheering myself with a poem that strikes a note of optimism in the gloom-mongering. 'Double dip recession' I present you with 'Sheenagh Pugh'. Tomorrow I'll sort out the other stuff ...

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail.
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war,
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best intentions do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you.

If you too are looking for some inspiration this could be just the thing - take up a new hobby.