Here are 12 images that feature prose for each month of the year using the same lines throughout. This series started in October. October was the most popular month-poem I wrote this year, so I thought it’d be interesting to explore making a prose-version of it for each month of the year.
The main reason I wanted to make a version that repeated the same words month by month is because, for me, it’s never about trying to forecast some perfect, ideal aim for each month. Instead, my hope is that these words can function as small seeds planted in the soil that can grow in different ways and timelines, and to show how the same text can feel different at different points in your life.
We never know how each month will play out, and this is true in many directions: we can be surprised by what gently unfolds and also surprised by what arrives all at once. We can be surprised by grief and we can also be surprised by joy.
In October, I called the poem “possibility of surprising encounters,” which is what I hope carries through each month. My hope with these poems is not to give advice or tell you how things are going to be (because just like anyone else, of course, I don’t know…) but to use what I’ve learned to do as someone who tries to use creative language to navigate experiences, memory, and story. And in that way, I hope this kind of “month writing” can offer a small place to pause and notice what’s shifting using a recognizable frame of time (i.e., a month).
And also…something to remember is that a month is just one way to measure time and meaningfulness. In a literary sense, a month is a framing device, a narrative marker, but experience rarely fits such a neat frame. That’s okay too. Wherever you find yourself with these poems, with each month, I hope they can function as small prompts for noticing and imagining, whatever your timeline looks like.
Here’s to one month at a time, December, January, and beyond.
-MHN
Feel free to save these images! Scroll to the very end for the wallpaper versions.
JANUARY
And for all you know, January could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in January be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, January could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let January be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
FEBRUARY
And for all you know, February could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in February be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, February could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let February be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
MARCH
And for all you know, March could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in March be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, March could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let March be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
APRIL
And for all you know, April could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in April be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, April could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let April be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
MAY
And for all you know, May could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in May be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, May could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let May be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
JUNE
And for all you know, June could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in June be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, June could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let June be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
JULY
And for all you know, July could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in July be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, July could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let July be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
AUGUST
And for all you know, August could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in August be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, August could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let August be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
SEPTEMBER
And for all you know, September could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in September be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, September could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let September be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
OCTOBER
And for all you know, October could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in October be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, October could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let October be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
NOVEMBER
And for all you know, November could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in November be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, November could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let November be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
DECEMBER
And for all you know, December could end up surprising you in a really good way. Even if it’s something as small as the right moment the right song plays, the flickers of sunlight through branches at the end of the day, or little chances to feel grounded and alive, anyway. So, as you imagine every possibility, may there be room to imagine the good ones, too. Let what is beautiful in December be beautiful, even before everything else makes sense to you, because for all you know, December could end up surprising you in a really good way. Not because you’ve suddenly arrived at some perfect state, but because you’re still here, and that matters, even as you wait. After all the mountains and valleys you’ve traveled through, you’re still free to let a new month mean something to you. Let December be a horizon of yet-to-be-known moments, stretching beyond the mountains you’ve traced, valleys you’ve crossed, carrying onward what time carries: a chance to go on, a chance for something still to matter, even here.
Wallpaper Versions
