“What are you grateful for?”
Our daughter, seven, said thank you last year –
My family, kittens, reading, school, and friends –
on a construction paper bird with silly eyes
She brought it home, safe in every word
and the robustness of the world. It’s still there
on our fridge, one grateful by yellow feather.
Now eight, locked, the only thank you she’ll give
is that “this year is almost over.” We live
least certainly, looking at hot spots and trends.
I add “our health” and “that we are here together”.
– Chelsea Rathburn, Poet Laureate from Georgia