<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(5, 32, 73); orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-weight: normal;" class="">Three Gratitudes</span></h4><div class=""><br class=""></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(53, 58, 63); orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Every night before I go to sleep<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">I say out loud<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Three things that I’m grateful for,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">All the significant, insignificant<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Extraordinary, ordinary stuff of my life.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(53, 58, 63); orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">It’s a small practice and humble,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">And yet, I find I sleep better<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Holding what lightens and softens my life<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Ever so briefly at the end of the day.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(53, 58, 63); orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Sunlight, and blueberries,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Good dogs and wool socks,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">A fine rain,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">A good friend,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Fresh basil and wild phlox,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">My father’s good health,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">My daughter’s new job,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">The song that always makes me cry,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Always at the same part,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">No matter how many times I hear it.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(53, 58, 63); orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Decent coffee at the airport,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">And your quiet breathing,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">The stories you told me,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">The frost patterns on the windows,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">English horns and banjos,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Wood Thrush and June bugs,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">The smooth glassy calm of the morning pond,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">An old coat,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">A new poem,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">My library card,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">And that my car keeps running<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Despite all the miles.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(53, 58, 63); orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">And after three things,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">More often than not,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">I get on a roll and I just keep on going,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">I keep naming and listing,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Until I lie grinning,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Blankets pulled up to my chin,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Awash with wonder<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">At the sweetness of it all.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Carrie Newcomer</div></body></html>