Hello, Mish here with our first Open Link Night of 2022, your opportunity to share ONE poem of your choice, any theme or style.
I hope every one of you found a safe and wonderful way to celebrate the New Year. Here’s to good health, continued strength to navigate through unpredictable times, much love to surround you and more passion for poetry!
Did you know that in Spain it is a New Year’s tradition to eat 12 grapes to bring good luck for each month of the year? One green grape is eaten each time the clock strikes at midnight. Interesting!
In Turkey, some wear red, smash a pomegranate in front of their home while leaving the tap running. As strange as it may seem, doing all three at once is believed to bring prosperity and good luck.
Let’s move on to Italy where larger items are thrown…. furniture to be exact. I’m sure many today simply put them to the curb but tradition began with heaving an old couch straight over the balcony! “Out with the old, in with the new”, as they say.
In the Philippines, they have many New Year’s customs including fireworks, hiding coins around the house, eating round fruits and wearing polka-dots. Round symbolizes prosperity and fortune.
Finland has a fortune telling tradition that involves melting a miniature tin horseshoe, then dropping it into a bucket of cold water. Next, the shadow of this random metal shape is examined to interpret what the future holds.
One potato, two potato, three…that’s how many you’ll need on New Year’s Eve in Columbia. One peeled, one unpeeled and one half-peeled. Place all three under your pillow and pull one out in the morning. Unpeeled symbolizes abundance, peeled means financial trouble and …well yes, there’s always in between.
When my son trekked through Asia a few years ago, he was fortunate to experience the celebration of “Songkran”. This marks the Thai New Year in April with a friendly water war of squirt guns, buckets and water balloons. The name Songkran is derived from “Sanskrit” meaning ‘passing’ or ‘moving forward’.
Canadians generally ring in the New Year with family dinners, small parties or a bubbly toast to a health and happiness at the stroke of midnight. However the last two years have been more subdued and less interactive. Thank goodness for Zoom, Face Time and Google Meet. If you are more adventurous, you can always take part in a “polar bear plunge”, braving frigid waters for charity. No?
We spent a very quiet New Year’s Eve for two with the most delicious take out Indian cuisine and a bottle of Merlot Cabernet Franz. The Christmas tree was lit for the final night of 2021. Cabbage rolls were on the menu for the next day.
I love the diversity of tradition….oh and poetry. Now go write a poem!
To join in – Click on Mr. Linky. Add the direct URL to your poem. Include a link to dVerse on your blog. Visit and comment on the work of your fellow poets.
Then pull up a chair in the pub and tell me about your New Year’s traditions.
I’ll leave you with this…..just because I couldn’t resist…..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Grapes
dVerse 
Welcome poet friends! I’m serving up some bubbly Canada Dry ginger ale with lime but am here to please with all your favourite beverages. Happy New Year’s….:)
Hi Mish! Lovely to read about the different traditions. I knew about the grapes, as I lived in Spain for 4 years, but not the others! I would love a ginger ale 🙂
Hi Ingrid, that’s so interesting. Did you partake? One frosty mug of ginger ale coming your way. 🙂
Somehow I never did – and I don’t even have an excuse 😅 🍇
Haha…that’s ok. I’m sure there was so much more to indulge in!
Greetings MIsh,
Good Evening and Best Wishes from the UK. I trust this finds everyone well.
Here is my first offering for the New Year only just published on the website this week – hope you like it. As ever, It feels good to be back here again and to see what you’ve all come up with, as we set sail together into 2022!
Hello Scott, nice to see you. I like the idea of setting sail into 2022. Hopefully smooth sailing. 🙂
Hi Mish, over the last two years we have started our new tradition of a zoom meeting between friends in the UK , Norway and the Netherlands. We celebrate two New Years, at CET and then at GMT. We were partying until 3am!
Oh and mine’s a pint please!
On it’s way!
I love it! Thanks for sharing. It seems that in some ways isolation has brought people closer together.
hi Mish and all, and thanks for hosting Mish. I pass on the drink for now, as I am going to have a late dinner in a minute. Have just posted my contribution – at present from Germany, normally/mostly from the UK these days. 🙂
Hi Barbara…we will take your poetry from anywhere! Thanks for joining in. 🙂
Hi Mish, are you still serving up? I’ll try some of the Canada Dry Ginger ale. Will write a poem later in the day. Unseasonably cold here today so I am going to sneak back to bed for awhile and read. Poem coming up later in the day. Cheers.
Oh that sounds lovely to snuggle back into bed on a chilly day. Cheers to your muse!
what fascinating customs … I’ve been caught up in that ‘gentle’ water fight, the head Cambodian monk nearly drowned me! What started as a gentle respectful custom soon degenerated into a full on water battle, guess it relieves tension 🙂
That is amazing…and hilarious. Yes, thinking about it, I would imagine it could relieve a lot of tension. Maybe that’s what the world needs now……one massive water fight. Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
lol ok for our summer maybe not quite suitable during your winter … but a healthier way of relieving tension is of vital need right now!
That is so very interesting…..Central Asia for me had the most wonderful New Years, traditions and celebrations…my love for Kazakhs includes their wonderful folk music, though right now of course their desperate fight for freedom overrides that….I will have a ginger tea though….
Hi Ain…..how wonderful you had the opportunity to visit and experience them. I will have to look more into the folk music. One ginger tea coming your way…
Thanks so much – such kind people, yes…
Hello Mish and thank you for hosting. Loved the post, all the customs are so interesting.
Hi Linda… Yes, they were fun to explore! Thanks for joining in. 🙂
Would you happen to have any Vernor’s Ginger Ale?
Yes, Ron if you prefer, I do have one here just for you. 🙂
Happy New Year to everyone. 🙂
Happy New Year fireblossom. 🙂
I accidently reloaded the poem I posted on Tuesday. Please delete the first entry! Thanks.
Will do, Dwight. 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Mish–thank you for hosting! Some people have already read it, but I’m sharing my New Year’s poem. Happy New Year to everyone. I’ll catch up with reading over the weekend. 😀
Thanks Merril, looking forward to reading your poem. 🙂
Happy New Year everyone. Thank you for hosting Mish!
Hi Rob 🙂 Happy New Year to you too.
Thank you Mish – fascinating customs – Happy New Year everyone. 🙂
Happy New Year, Paul. 🙂
🙂
Hello Mish, thanks for hosting! It was interesting to read about different customs followed by people to celebrate new year. Happy New Year to you ~Jay
Hello Jay, nice to see you. Happy New Year to you too. 🙂
Very interesting traditions. Wow. I like the one about grapes. The one about changing furniture yearly… um, don’t know if I could afford to do that. But interesting. Thanks for sharing.
May I get a generous serving of your house red, please. Thanks. It’s Friday evening for me right now. Good time for wine.
A glass of cabernet coming up, Selma. Yes, I agree with the furniture…I’m sure I wouldn’t have something to part with each year. Maybe a throw cushion ;D
Just what I needed, Mish. Yummy. You’re the best. All the best. Stay sweet. xo
I’ll try! 😉
Hi Mish, I loved reading about all the different customs for welcoming in the New Year. Much more interesting than my very sedate evening in with some of my family, watching a movie and having a glass of something fizzy at midnight. Happy New Year to you and all the d’Verse community 🎇🎆
Hello and Happy New Year….a quiet evening with family is the perfect way to ring in the New Year. 🙂
Hi Mish!
Love the new year’s traditions you’ve detailed here! I’m late to the posting….my poem will explain. I have returned. 🙂
Hiya Lil….can’t wait to read. Happy New Year to you, dear lady. 🙂
“Poetry in the time of Pandemic” – this should be a prompt. The poems would be powerful, because the Pandemic is highly visible for all to see, no matter how urgent or absurd one’s individual response. It will no doubt become an anthology someday.
I’m sure we could fill a book, Rob! Thanks for the idea. Take care.
Hi Mish. Thanks a lot for sharing such wonderful traditions from all over the world. The Spanish and the Turkish traditions sure can be given a try. 😀
You’re quite welcome. Thanks for joining in. I think I’ll try the grapes next year. 😉
😉
Hello again Mish, I finally got around to having a poem for you. Feeling happy I wrote a brand new one just for you even if it is a day late. Cheers
Hi there, thanks for sharing your poem with all of us. Enjoy the poetry trail. 🙂
What a fun list of traditions. Thanks for sharing.
Keep the poems coming. With the challenges we are facing poetry is needed more now than ever.
Wishing everyone wellness.
Ali
Always nice to see you, Ali and I agree, poetry must prevail…a constant through the chaos. Happy New Year 🙂
I haven’t bee able to participate much here because my days are filled with supporting teachers and students. I am am grateful to return to the community when I can. Thanks for helping keep it going. Happy New Year!
Wow, Ali…that would be overwhelming these days. Our schools are shut down at the moment in Ontario, back to online learning. I can’t imagine the stress of it all as a teacher. For my family’s safety, I left the field as an early childhood educator, miss it and unfortunately not something I can do online.
Our school is still open and I hope it will remain. It fills my heart to see the children playing/learning together.
Thanks for this mouthwatering prompt! I’m a bit late but here it is!