By G.H. Mosson
I’m thankful these days, because of some things, despite other things, and with luck amid the slings, arrows, work, and humdrum.
This year I vowed to practice a theme as a New Year’s Resolution. Yes, I make those. I have one (again) of learning to play guitar. Haven’t touched it yet though. (I am about to change that as I write this blog post).
Still: “Play it again, Sam.” I’ve sworn this resolution before, and I’m grateful for my hopefully charming, small failures.
You guessed it, my theme’s gratitude. I’m practicing it by being grateful and expressing it to people, including family members. I know this is something I can do; it is ineffable in essence. It does not require paper, nor money, nor school. I’ve sent three “thank you notes” already and they required stamps. It is much less daunting than guitar. In fact, I don’t really need to be that good at it. “Thanks” goes a long way. I’m sure I’ll develop a few variations before 2019.
I’m grateful to PM Press for bringing out Heart X-Rays in May 2018, our poem, by Marcus Colasurdo and myself. I think the poem is grateful, though the core of it was drafted a year plus ago.
Back in the day, Be the Change You Want to See in the World, resonated with me from the get-go. Back then, Gandhi’s manta was one of a dozen or so I attempted to embody or learn. I’d say, now, it’s a guiding light. So, I’d also like to be a grateful person.
Of course, if you knew me, you’d know I have a poem about gratitude. Thanks for sharing this blog with me. Cheers.
Ode to Gratitude
From leaf tip to wide sky
where treetips indicate where birds seem to fly
how a volcano mulls until it must explode
how a new parent is reborn, like earth cradles
the moon within the chain of a larger orbit;
when my eyes find you, or used to, or search;
why love fuels the search, how it burns me up,
when all rips apart to receive and reach out.
