Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Welcome Morning

There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry "hello there, Anne"
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.

All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.

So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken.

The Joy that isn't shared, I've heard,
dies young.

--Anne Sexton

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:30 PM

    How beautiful! Thanks for posting that. Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a lovely and apt poem for today. I'm trying (and failing) not to find the line "to faint down by the kitchen table" funny. It seems like that's what I'm going to be ready to do later this afternoon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is one of my all-time favorites, and coincidentally, I was thinking about it the other day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm so happy to read this poem tonight - I needed to recognize blessings.

    ReplyDelete

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