Thanksgiving

A brooding heart is too heavy,

a burden no man should bear alone, at least.

This is where thankfulness can renew the spirit,

in spite of the travails of this life and the missteps

and errors and yearnings, thankfulness can cover them all,

and, if not make them go away, keep them at bay until

the spirit can handle them and put them under control again.

If this is sought, I told myself, and I have told myself this time and

again over these five decades and some, and I have had some

success with labored breath and weathered hands I have

done the heavy lifting, metaphorically and literally, in an

attempt to save myself from self-destruction or, at least,

the worst self-loathing, and here I stand on the other side of

the gauntlet, a different man, a thankful man.

This is where thankfulness has renewed my spirit,

in spite of travails in my life, the missteps and errors and yearnings,

thankfulness has covered them all.