So That's Why All the Bad Luck Lately

"Eat poor that day, eat rich the rest of the year. Rice for riches and peas for peace." - Southern saying on eating a dish of Hoppin' John on New Year's Day. The first of twelve grapes eaten quickly at midnight was sour. January will be bad. Better eat one more! Collard greens I despise are folded large bills on my plate. Legumes represent mere coins. I’ll eat tons of beans! Pigs push forward; chickens don’t. Hating pork, I can’t progress. Eating noodles for long life - Oops, my noodle broke! Fish and round foods give good luck. I don’t eat fish. No matter. I might find the lucky prize in the New Year’s cake. Note: Mentioned in this poem were some of the more common foods of the New Year dinner and the traditions surrounding them. For Russell Sivey's Good Luck Meal Contest