In My Little Corner of the World

I know most of us, if not all of us, rally round and think about all that we are thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches.  Somehow this year, considering all that I am blessed with has left a kind of darkness in me, knowing much of the world has not a tiny, tiny fraction of my blessings...blessings that are so easy to take for granted in a life overflowing with blessings.

I hope that I can keep in the forefront of my mind, on all the days to come, those for whom a blessing might be something as small as a crust of bread.  I know keeping all those destitute people, people living in war zones, people who must watch their children starve, in my mind and in my heart is so little in the scope of the world, but I do think it matters.  It matters for us to keep those who are less fortunate, deep within ourselves...in our hearts, our minds and in our prayers.  It matters.

My little corner

of the world

has no rubble,

no debris strewn streets,

no women buried to the neck

and stoned.

My corner of the world

has no daily strife,

no search for morsels

among the refuse,

no stench of stray bodily fluids

lingering in the air.

My small corner 

of the world

has no machete wielding

rebels,

no stray bullets piercing 

random bodies,

no children falling

senseless victims.

In my corner of the world

there is an enormous

absence

of the dark,

the dirty,

the broken,

an enormous absence

of bitter violence

of discord

of struggle

and I ask

why me?

I am thankful...

thankful my life is 

so blessed

yet, it seems I am not thankful enough,

not in quantity

nor in frequency,

not enough anyway

to balance

a world,

away from my sacred corner,

that is consumed by hatred,

war,

hunger,

homelessness,

grief,

abuse,

violence...

I wish my thankfulness

had power...

I wish it made me huge...

I wish

I could heal the world

with my gratitude.

Joanne Adragna Shird

November 19,2012

May everyone find the blessings in their life!

I am thankful!