I carry in my pocket bread,

two one pound coins, coal from the surround

we can never afford to put on

for more than half an hour,

and salt, it is not a fetish

but just my way of offering you fortune,

life, heat and wealth in the coming year.

I will walk across your threshold

with a smile and propose we shake hands

under your hallway light, twenty watt bulb,

may you be happy and know love

in the next twelve months, may your Sunday

lunch with family and friends