Essential Gratitude by Andrea Potos

Sometimes it just stuns you
like an arrow flung from some angel’s wing.
Sometimes it hastily scribbles
a list in the air: black coffee,
thick new books,
your pillow’s cool underside,
the quirky family you married into.

It is content with so little really;
even the ink of your pen along
the watery lines of your dimestore notebook
could be a swiftly moving prayer.

Essential Gratitude

Here is a poet, new to me, who captures in so few words a brief message of appreciation. Gratitude is a quality that cannot be expressed too often and she does so without even using the word beyond the title.

Sometimes it just stuns you / like an arrow flung from some angel’s wing. This is how thankfulness can pierce us, take our breath away, the sudden realization of what we are given in any moment. Your list will likely be different but I imagine you will recognize at least one of these small but significant items – on these hot nights, turning my pillow over for the momentary coolness is truly a gift.

The point is, gratitude is content with so little really. There are so many opportunities in a day to notice and give thanks, our words becoming a swiftly moving prayer. This recognition is essential, this appreciation for the ordinary as well as the exceptional aspects of life.

When you feel the touch of an angel’s wing today may you be awakened into a renewed appreciation for the gift of being alive.