Listen

with the night falling we are saying thank you

we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings

we are running out of the glass rooms

with our mouths full of food to look at the sky

and say thank you

we are standing by the water thanking it

standing by the windows looking out in our directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging

after funerals we are saying thank you after the news of the dead

whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you

in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators

remembering wars and the police at the door

and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you

in the banks we are saying thank you

in the faces of the officials and the rich

and of all who will never change

we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us

taking our feelings we are saying thank you

with the forests falling faster than the minutes

of our lives we are saying thank you

with the words going out like cells of a brain

with the cities growing over us

we are saying thank you faster and faster

with nobody listening we are saying thank you

thank you we are saying and waving

dark though it is

W.S. Merwin, Thanks

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favourite holiday by far. It is a time where God gives me a little shake and gratefulness comes out of my soul.

We live in a prosperous country. My children are well nourished and are immunized against deadly diseases. I have a roof over my head and every night I sleep in a warm bed.

My children and I have never seen war. I have access to medical care. I am prosperous. (A computer. A TV. A car. A telephone. A DVD player. A Cell phone. A Cell phone! I have a bath every night in gallons of fresh water. The list goes on.)

As I sit here with my tummy full of food I say Thank You.