Sunrises Are Gratitude

 

A friend of Facebook wrote "sunrises are gratitude." I said it sounded like a poem. Maybe it is. 

Symbols and sirens echo in clarion call
Shipwrecks and market crashes are signals of change
Mirrors are gateways through the dense wall  
Raccoons and squirrels will rearrange
Mountaintops are ladders through the ceiling sky
Hummingbirds and dragonflies alter attitude 
Lions and tigers and bears ... oh my!
At our daybreak ... sunrises are gratitude

Hope is based not on the path gone before
But in the knowing of what we're made of
Not even the anticipation of what lies in store
Not even the romantic novel filled with love
Love letters are not guarantees in granite
Wishes are not sturdy branches on which to swing
A priest or pope can't forgive with pardons granted
None of these worldly offerings offer anything

But a baby's first words and first walk 
They are carved into eternal memory
Like that high school first-time deep long talk
The art created by the artist with fine artistry
The poet's meter and symbolism and rhythm and rhyme
The plaster sculpture carefully etched in stone
The experiences of the dreamer etched in time 
The gift of surrender and healing ... as we atone
The expansive oneness we experience alone
Gathering no moss wherever we may roam
On our sacred way to our original home

Shipwrecks and market crashes come to change landscapes
Demolishing past promises and platitudes 
The doors slam shut tight on all our escapes 
An angelic encounter, miracles in the multitudes
Shipwrecks and market crashes will come and go
Now right action is combined with right attitude
Mirrored in nature and your own divine soul 
Sunsets are inevitable; sunsets are gratitude


James Anthony Ellis can be found at www.LegacyProductions.org.