Gratitude (8)
By Ruth Calder Murphy (Arciemme)
This was part of a series of gratitude poems that I wrote towards the end of 2013. The others can be found in my third collection of poetry,Dance of Days.
This morning
- still deep night for most -
I went out into the chill dark
and looked up to where stars pierced a patch of sky,
unobscured by the Autumn mist that hung in the air,
almost everywhere…
My breath bloomed and hung there too,
my own mists,
visible echoes of my invisible soul,
obscured in mystery, wreathed in obscurity.
But the stars shone through
- and somehow, eventually, they always do -
and I’m grateful.
I’m grateful for stars that shine despite the fog and because of the night,
for the gift of first sight to see them and second sight to know them
and imagination to feel the connections.
I’m grateful for warmth, waiting for me in coffee,
and the day - just over the horizon - waiting to break,
but for now, I’m grateful, most of all, for stars.