Be Grateful (Estimation)
“Be grateful for what you have!”and its companions
“at least you’re alive”
“it could be worse”
“someone else would love
to be in your shoes”
would produce more healing
if the pronoun were changed.
“I’m grateful you are alive.”
“I’m grateful your suffering isn’t worse.”
“I’m grateful some else would love to be in your shoes.”
Try again.
“I’m grateful no one else is in your shoes.”
“I’m grateful for your shoes.”
“I’m grateful you share your shoes with me.”
Again.
“I’m grateful I am not in your shoes.”
“I’m grateful you have such great shoes to suffer in.”
“I’m grateful others will benefit from your shoes.”
Again.
“I’m grateful your circumstances are mitigated by your comparative affluence.”
“I’m grateful your circumstances are not entirely devastating.”
Sit down. Let’s talk.
I can trick my body into happiness with small gratitudes
Sunlight warms my skin
Food provides my energy
A roof shields my body
A spark ignites my awareness
Love fills my life
Coffee fills my cup
I’m grateful for the friend who made the cup (Nancy)
the hand that picked the bean
the sweet water
drawn from the dark earth
through stone
soil
soil
pipes laid in trenches dug by hardworking men
(John, Wayne, Eric, Dom)
(men I know; men whose children I know)
pipes plumbed without lead
filled at the turn of a well-wrought lever
water
cold
clear
of mud or disease or toxins
I’m grateful for the machine
for the minds
the hands
the metals
the boxes
the planes
the trucks
the roads
the FedEx man (Walt) who placed it on my counter.
the counter (Kevin, Diane, Wayne)
the drawer (Paul, Karla, Steve, Dan)
the spoon (Alice)
the 8,314 times this machine made coffee
(that a machine makes coffee)
the porch (Steve, Dan, Paul (a different one), Jamie, Doug)
the man who takes the cup (Arny)
the fountain (John)
the chair (Sue)
the afghan (Kathleen RIP)
the quiet
the steam on my face
the sleeping child (Charlotte)
the wind bell (Marcia)
Coffee empties from my cup
Art flows from my life
A spark ignites veneer
Stone shields my body
Fire fed from energy
Buried deep within
Project wood
Lost.
“Be grateful”
breathing hurts
“Be grateful for”
five living years or more
“Be grateful for what”
doctors
“Be grateful for what you”
don’t know
“Be grateful for what you have”
what I have.
Leave a Reply