[Poetry Friday] On Giving Thanks

Fats here.

There are so many things that I’m thankful for this year. If I had to share only one, I’d have to say that I am most grateful for having found a reasonably priced apartment with a two-car attached garage. Winter is coming, so Daniel and I feel very fortunate that we do not have to worry about brushing snow off of our cars or scraping it off the windshield in the morning, I also feel very grateful for being able to find the best motor trade insurance for our cars. It’s a nice change, for once.

Moving on, I placed on hold a copy of Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers, and Praise Songs of Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. I’m glad it was made available in time for Thanksgiving. This book was edited by Katherine Paterson, with illustrations by Pamela Dalton. I’m familiar with some of the passages, poems, and praise hymns included in this collection. Today, I’m sharing three that I’ve not read before.

A big thanks to Carol at Carol’s Corner for hosting the Poetry Friday round-up!

When I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird.

When I fall
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.

– Wendell Berry, from “Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer”

I part the out thrusting branches
and come in beneath
the blessed and the blessing trees.

Though I am silent there is singing around me.
Though I am dark there is vision around me.
Though I am heavy there is flight around me.

– Wendell Berry, from “Woods”

I think over again my small adventures,
My fears,
These small ones that seemed so big.
For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.
And yet there is only one great thing,
The only thing.
To live to see the great day that dawns
And the light that fills the world.

– Inuit Song