What’s In My Gratitude Journal: NaPoWriMo

I’m participating in National Poetry Writing Month, NaPoWriMo, in celebration of National Poetry Month.

Today’s poem was inspired by a prompt at Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s blog, The Poem Farm (plus a little help from William Stafford’s “What’s In My Journal“):

I know many people who keep thankful journals.  Some call them gratitude journals.  These are books for listing of the good things in our lives. Research has proven when we write down what we are thankful for each day, we live with greater joy.

I have known teachers who have invited students to keep thankful journals, friends who keep gratitude notebooks, and often I write my own lists of things I am thankful for in my writers notebook.  After writing today’s poem, I may even begin a special section in my notebook for just this.

What’s In My Gratitude Journal

Big things.
Family. Health. Shelter. Work. Breath.

Little things.
My son’s laughter. The feel of freshly-brushed teeth. Frances’s giant toes.

Nature things.
South Dakota sunrises. The grasslands, the Badlands, the Black Hills. Antelope, bison, bald eagles, coyotes. Fields greening up. Metallic smell of rain. Heavy spring snow.

Sports things.
Underdogs. The squeak of basketball shoes on a wooden floor. Athletes who cry when they lose. Athletes who cry when they win.

Needful things.
Sleep. Coffee. Unpretentious food. Dark chocolate. Ice water. Lemons. Clean house. Open road. Daily practice. Cats.

Unexpected things.
Keys that don’t unlock anything. Personal inscriptions in used books. Graffiti. Sepia photos of people I don’t know. Dogs wearing sweaters.

Reading things.
Brown boxes by the back door. Library cards. Shelfies.

Writing things.
My notebook. Pens. My favorite table at the coffee shop, unoccupied.