Thank You

the night is warm and
dark enough to see the loving
light of the stars.

the wind blows,
causing the chimes to sound
so beautifully,
and the leaves to swirl in the air,
to dance across my toes.

all autumn long,
these leaves have been changing from
green to red and yellow
existing beautifully, preparing
for the day when only
the slightest breeze
would carry them softly to the ground.

i feel the words coming
then [pause]
to the rhythm of my beating heart.
another breeze reaches out
to touch the backs of
my ears and the palms
of my hands.

and suddenly,
it dawns on me as though
the slightest push
was all it needed.

things come gently into focus.
goals, worries, separation, anticipation
melt together
to erase the horizon.

with only darkness left
i can no longer
see "out there."

instead
i feel only
gratitude

to the people
i love.

thank you.