Joyce's Bird Poems

  15 January 2021 Gratitude Why should I waste my time and energy just to be grateful, As l etting my heart fill with gratitude doesn’t pay my bills, I have more than enough to do just to live each day Without having to be thankful for everything, including my ills. When, as a game, I take the time to list all the things, Like friends, nature, and music , that I am thankful for I end up including everything I can think of in my life, And even then, could just keep adding more and more. Even my sore and battered hip that slows me down, And the complete insanity of our world that is nearing its end Get added to my list when ever I reluctantly admit That what I see as dangerous and annoying is also my friend For the many complexities and mysteries of life Which I wonder about but don’t fully understand, All are entangled together in deep and mysterious ways That I can never hope to begin to comprehend. And somehow, equally mysteriously, just the sim

  "Joy, laughter, and delight are so powerful because, like all mysticism, they abolish  conventional divisions... The often boisterous laughter, especially of women, is part and parcel of the everyday  life of mystical movements. " Dorothee Soelle's book: "The Silent Cry" with thanks to Anne Smith for the quote 2021: The Year of Joy, Laughter and Gratitude How c an I greet 2021 as a year of joy, laughter, and gratitude, Knowing many challenges, and disasters, are loom ing th is year, Would n’t it be more sane and sensible just to expect the worst, And bunker down in ‘safety’, filled with horror , and fear? Do I have any right to hope for joy and laughter in my life? I know that wishful thinking may b lind me to the ‘ real’ future that await s . How do I find the strength and courage to seek joy and laughter, Knowing that much pain and misery may also be part of my fate? I have no control over any of these co