i am thankful

i am thankful

(that i am home)

i am thankful for the light & shadows
splayed across the dusty blinds
for the ever changing art installation
as i look outside

i am thankful for the wind
even when i don’t feel it
how its movement
becomes more visible
when i am still

i am thankful for the fig trees in my garden
how they have roots in this soil & bear fruit
& even though i have not eaten the figs yet
how delicious the anticipation is of saying
yet

i am thankful there is no silence as long as there are grackles & doves
& for the squirrels & their sideways glances & furtive dashes
how they can spend an entire day going to & fro

i am thankful for spider webs those delicate traps
how home is where you make it & always temporary
& if accidentally broken then reconstructed
somewhere else (perhaps close)
in time

i am thankful for this time this time that i have not expected
that i assumed would be filled but that is not unaccounted
like the digital clocks on the microwave or the stereo
constantly telling but often reset

i am thankful for no tv
for the escapism that is
just solitude
again

i am thankful for my fridge
though often empty
a magnetic canvas
of happenstance poetry

i am thankful for my stove
how the flame has never failed me
& for the teapot that whistles now
only occasionally

i am thankful for the bed that is
wider than my hips
& longer than my sleep
for the layers of meaning
attached to each

i am thankful for the sticks & stones
that have been collected & not thrown
for the seashells that lie beached
in this room i call my own

i am thankful for how oceanic
i try to keep my arrangements
all of them
in constant
ebb & flow

i am thankful for the sudden force of the shower
the torrent of emotion that only water clearly enunciates
& for the shower itself how it drenches me in memories
of waterfalls of monsoons of lovers
left behind

i am thankful for the bathtub filled
with my body & its residue
how it empties slowly
but not without leaving a mark

i am thankful for a closet full
for hangers draped in softness
of unburdened touches
i can cover myself with
a myriad of colors
even when i am feeling
just blue

i am thankful for the whirring of the computer
for the electricity for the current
it keeps me connected
so that even when static
i am connected to you.