Poem of Gratitude,
Poem of Unburdening
Poem of gratitude
This poem makes use
of the poetic and rhetorical device anaphora—beginning
each line with the same word or phrase (as in Walt Whitman’s I
celebrate myself and sing myself…with many lines opening on the words I
sing. In this one, we will use the word “for” and each line will
offer something for which we are grateful (the wordgrateful remains
unspoken. Gratitude is the greatest healer. It creates a natural
balm and state of abundance.
You can be very
playful, imagistic and mysterious about these things you are grateful for, or
you can be very literal and specific. Write at least twenty lines!
for the scroll on
my wall with its brush-stroke of awareness
for Pavlic’s image
of light layings its eggs in my eyes
for the 14th century
mystic poet who tells me that God is the breath inside the breath
for the blue roof
tiles of the church below my window
for the taxi driver
who spoke in holy sufi poems
for calm water
beneath the ferry boat
poem of unburdening
This poem is a confession.
It may take the form of a letter with the Dear So-and-So at the beginning: an
epistolary poem. Or it may take the form of the list, just as the poem of
gratitude. It is meant to relieve the self. To empty the
self. Some lines might be playful and small, such as William Carlos
Williams’ cold plums, which he asks forgiveness for having eaten (without
really being sorry!), and others may be very serious or about matters of great
sadness. It will depend on the moment and the person. One might use anaphorawith this poem too! The
word “for” would work. Or begin as Williams did, with the line “This is
just to say / I’m sorry for…” But a list is often helpful, as there are
many things to let go.
I set down the
basket of doubt and storm
I set down the
grief that arose in me
I set down the
friends who have drifted away
I began with “I set
down” and you can use this too, or another phrase or word of your own. If
you write a letter, address someone real or imagined, your hidden self or a
future reader.
If you write a
list, write at least twenty lines of unburdening.
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