New Year’s Resolutions

1. For novices

Huddle in the Antarctic dark
with emperor penguins
for sixty-four days.

Irrigate Mars (canals preferred).

Memorize the first ten thousand primes.

2. For journeymen

Endow peahens with plumage
eclipsing that of peacocks.

Circumnavigate the Moon by hot-air balloon
(add appropriate atmosphere in advance).

Prove the Riemann hypothesis.

3. For advanced practitioners

Travel to 17th-century Mauritius
to retrieve dodos.

Rearrange the rings of Saturn.

Make π rational.


Mary Soon Lee