thankful.

Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water looking out
in different directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the back door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you

in the banks that use us we are saying thank you
with the crooks in office with the rich and fashionable
unchanged we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster by the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us like the earth
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

-w.s. merwin

tonight my heart is saying thank you to God for: friends who are quickly becoming family (i love the laniels!), my students and the strength they possess, my bedroom reading chair, baby lola, a car that i want to throw off a cliff (oh wait, not too thankful for that at the moment), music that is good for the soul, new adventures, spring break road trips with great friends (moab, utah!), surprise visits from a dear college friend, poetry, reading my students poetry, free pastry day at starbucks, my sister, ben and jerry's ice cream, happy hours, record players (i officially NEED one), live music, and last but not least...the large amount of SNOW falling from the sky outside my window at this very moment...yes, i am most thankful for the snow day we WILL be having tomorrow and all the fun that will go with it:)

xoxo