Gratitude
It’s hard to clarify
How grateful feels.
What gratitude feels like – If it ‘feels’ at all.
We often give a “thank you”
But just how ‘thank you’ feels is hard to tell.
We tip our hats, show recognition,
Feel a sense of obligation.
Happiness, appreciation:
Does one feel it, does it show
Where and how, the real sensation
Unspecific as a cloud.
I’ve sensed regret and self-reproach;
Felt self-botched down to the bone;
Things I’ve done or haven’t done,
And I suppose
Twinned to those nouns
Are feelings and acknowledgements
Of circumstances, and those
People who, by destiny
Have landed like a gross of roses
And with a helpful hand stand closest by
To leave me doused unselfishly
With tenderness, goodwill and sympathy.
Did I ‘feel’ gratitude?.
While never rude, crude or imbued
I was nought ever good enough
To feel the attitude I off, on the cuff.
But now it’s come.
Overcome with recognition
I can laugh, cry, hum –
The sense of comprehension overwhelming.
I am grateful and aware –
Affectionate and caring.
Thankful for the smallest gifts,
Which gifts sift constantly
Through drifts of hard and soft alike,
‘Gratitude’ no platitude
But living an incessant mood.
Grattude 7.24.2022 Circling Round Existence; Pure Nakedness II; Arlene Nover Corwin
Arlene Corwin Poetry 