Elena, I have no poem for you today.
I have instead my gratitude, abundant
and green, a forestation of thanks.
I have my heart beating joy
as waves pulse on Atwater Beach.
I have my silences, my meditations,

ragged around the edges, but still
lovely in a bargain-basement way.

I have something like grace, which
despite the drag and slog of heavy days,
despite the lacksleep and the blunted wit,
keeps me going and eager to receive
whatever you, kind soul, have to offer!
I have what I cannot possess,
what I cannot clutch or clench in a fist,
what I cannot lock in a cage.

Elena, I have song. Yes, song!
Choristers of daybreak, in churches, on branches.
I have poems by you and by so many others.
I have time, so quickly fleeting ---

I don't know how much I have left.
I have a heart that wants to celebrate,

a soul that wants to praise you
for the gifts you have given the world.