Poetry Sunday

We're less than a week from my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. It can be hard nowadays to find things to be thankful for, but they're there if you look, as this unknown author reminds us ... 

I Am Thankful – A Poem of Thanksgiving

Author Unknown*

I am thankful:

For the wife

Who says it’s hot dogs tonight

Because she is home with me

And not out with someone else.

For the husband

Who is on the sofa

Being a couch potato

Because he is home with me

And not out at the bars.

For the teenager

Who is complaining about doing dishes

Because it means she is at home,

Not on the streets.

For the taxes I pay

Because it means

I am employed.

For the mess to clean after a party

Because it means I have

Been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug

Because it means

I have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work

Because it means

I am out in the sunshine.

For a lawn that needs mowing,

Windows that need cleaning,

And gutters that need fixing

Because it means that I have a home.

For all the complaining

I hear about the government

Because it means

We have freedom of speech.

For the parking spot

I find at the far end of the parking lot

Because it means

I am capable of walking,

And I have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge heating bill

Because it means

I am warm.

For the lady behind me in church

Who sings off key

Because it means I can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing

Because it means

I have clothes to wear.

For weariness and aching muscles

At the end of the day

Because it means I have been

Capable of working.

For the alarm that goes off

In the early morning hours

Because it means

I am alive.

What are the things for which you are thankful? You have a few days to contemplate them before that one day each year when you're reminded to be thankful for what you have ...

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* A version of this poem has been attributed on the Internet to Nancie J. Carmody, but there are numerous different versions, and I'm not sure who can actually claim authorship.