Poetry: Thanks

As I find my most productive working years winding down, and my livlihood earned working for others becoming a thing of years past, and as I take up my pen more often, I have begun to reflect on the briefness of life itself, on why we're here and why we pass on, on why we've chosen certain paths and left others unexplored, on exactly where my father is now.

And I wonder why I didn't wonder more when I was younger, when aunts and uncles and grandparents left me behind, and on why the pain of hurtful events lessens as they distance themselves from my everyday.

And I pray:

Thanks!

Thanks for the Pen;
For loving Parents,
And loyal Friends.

Thanks for Beginnings,
For Middles,
And Ends.

Thanks for a Daughter,
For her Child,
And a Son mild.

Thanks for a sweet
Daughter-in-Law,
Who calls me Ma.

Thanks for four-legged Pals,
For eyes of Faith or bust,
And companionship Trust.

Thanks for Moonlight,
For Evening's run,
And morning's Sun.

Thanks for deep Love,
For a Partner older,
And Feelings bolder.

Thanks for the Decades,
For Protesters wise,
And Rebels' demise.

Thanks for Get-Togethers,
Pictures of the Past,
For Memories that last.

Thanks for Dreams,
Great imaginative Tales,
For Stories that prevail.

And Thanks for the Time,
For Listening well;
Lord, you've been Swell.