Back on New Year’s Eve 2020, I decided for the year 2021, I would write a poem a week. I decided this for a few reasons: to keep my writing sharp, to keep my creative juices flowing, and to have an outlet for all those things in my head that couldn’t find a place elsewhere. I like regimens, and trying new things, and stretching myself creatively. My sisters-in-law (who are superior poets to me) graciously joined me, and we shared our poems with each other in a text thread that became one of the year’s highlights for me. I also documented my poems on Instagram under the hashtag #fcshawpoems. I was inspired by many things: coffee, 70s rock (particularly Neil Diamond and Simon & Garfunkel), nature, my loved ones, but mostly the year itself. I do not claim to be a poet, and I don’t claim these 52 poems to be anything extraordinary, but I hope they resonate with you in some small way. Or at least encourage your creativity to bloom.