Monday, November 23, 2015

thank full


thanksgiving
i'll
be
heading south on the very day..
after the benefit yoga class
8 am  ~ come!

mila rubie..the red prius of excellent wheels
will be loaded and then loaded again..
where did all the stuff that i can't seem to do without ~
come from?

we are hunters and gatherers in a new way..
shoes and more shoes..
coats of every flavor..
warm gloves and hats
how many hands? how many heads?
tea, cups, dates, chocolate for the road..
phones and cords and candles and sox
bed roll and pillow..elephant..babar..
the stuffed heffalump that i have had for 37 years..
he's been to india and panama..
hawaii and the netherlands
paper stamps toothpicks
reading glasses sun glasses
binoculars
car chains
ghee and rice crackers
yoga mat blankets block bolster strap
books..though i am leaving shelves of them behind
face creme toothbrushes
pencils and pens
the singing bell from japan-
the bell my mama gave me after she died
towels and paper towels
coveted soup pot
ghee pan cinnamon
jizo travel buddha
prayer shawls


Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railing
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water looking out
in different directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
looking up from tables we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in the doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the back door
and the beatings on the stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks that use us we are saying thank you
with the crooks in the office with the rich and fashionable
unchanged we go on saying thank you thank you

with animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like the cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us like the earth
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is
                             ~ w. s. merwin

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