<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(7, 23, 57);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Three Gratitudes</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 44, 48);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Every night before I go to sleep<br class="">
I say out loud<br class="">
Three things that I’m grateful for,<br class="">
All the significant, insignificant<br class="">
Extraordinary, ordinary stuff of my life.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 44, 48);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">It’s a small practice and humble,<br class="">
And yet, I find I sleep better<br class="">
Holding what lightens and softens my life<br class="">
Ever so briefly at the end of the day.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 44, 48);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Sunlight, and blueberries,<br class="">
Good dogs and wool socks,<br class="">
A fine rain,<br class="">
A good friend,<br class="">
Fresh basil and wild phlox,<br class="">
My father’s good health,<br class="">
My daughter’s new job,<br class="">
The song that always makes me cry,<br class="">
Always at the same part,<br class="">
No matter how many times I hear it.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 44, 48);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Decent coffee at the airport,<br class="">
And your quiet breathing,<br class="">
The stories you told me,<br class="">
The frost patterns on the windows,<br class="">
English horns and banjos,<br class="">
Wood Thrush and June bugs,<br class="">
The smooth glassy calm of the morning pond,<br class="">
An old coat,<br class="">
A new poem,<br class="">
My library card,<br class="">
And that my car keeps running<br class="">
Despite all the miles.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 44, 48);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">And after three things,<br class="">
More often than not,<br class="">
I get on a roll and I just keep on going,<br class="">
I keep naming and listing,<br class="">
Until I lie grinning,<br class="">
Blankets pulled up to my chin,<br class="">
Awash with wonder<br class="">
At the sweetness of it all.</span></p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Carrie Newcomer</span></div></body></html>