The List of Things I'm Grateful For
by Joy Alden
4.7(278)
Not the big things.
Everyone is grateful
for the big things.
Health, family, roof.
Yes. Obviously.
But what about
the small things
that hold the big things
together?
I'm grateful
for the first sip of coffee—
not the cup,
the sip.
The one that says:
today is possible.
I'm grateful
for the friend
who texts back
with just a period.
Because we both know
what that period means
and explaining it
would ruin it.
I'm grateful
for hot water.
Not philosophically.
Physically.
The shower at the end
of the worst day
when the water is too hot
and your skin
is too tired
to complain
and for four minutes
nothing else exists.
I'm grateful
for the stranger
who held the door
and didn't need
my thank you
but got it anyway
and nodded
like we'd signed
a tiny contract
of civilization.
I'm grateful
for the dog
who loves me
for reasons
that have nothing to do
with my résumé.
I'm grateful
for the book
that's waiting
on the nightstand
like a friend
who doesn't need
to be entertained.
I'm grateful
for this.
The act of listing.
The noticing.
The deliberate pause
in a life
that rarely pauses
to count
what it has
instead of
what it doesn't.
Gratitude is not
a feeling.
It's a practice.
And today
I practiced.
195 words · 50 lines · Free Verse