Thursday, June 2, 2016

We Must Be Grateful

"For all God's gifts there must be in us a response of 
thanksgiving and happiness and joy." 
Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation.
***

We must be grateful
when the old ones leave.

Forsaking the March sun,
they brush off tender, white blossoms.

Past the fleeing migrations,
they exhale their final, tainted breath.

Rising from earthen bones
in deep silence, new hymns intone

of thanksgiving and joy
and home.

(28 Nov 2013)

_________________________
Dedicated to my aunt, Sister Rachel Willett, who died today, June 2, 2016, at the age of 94.

Image: Stephen J. Kaltenbach, "Portrait of My Father"  Crocker Museum. Acrylic on canvas