Vox Populi
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James Crews: Thank You for Everything
Walking the roads after a snowstorm,
he put out an arm to stop me
as three deer streamed down the hill,
then kept holding me back
as two more morphed from trunks
and tree limbs into the lithe bodies
that leapt to follow the others back
into the woods. When we stepped
gingerly toward the place where they
had crossed, I was ready to start
talking again, until he asked,
“Do you smell them?” and I said
I did, now with a name for the rank
musk that hung in the air around us,
what I’d thought must just be
crushed pine needles, the scent
of churned-up soil. Having forgotten
whatever it was we were discussing—
a problem at work, bills to pay,
some politician’s latest lies—
I remembered what the Japanese
Zen master Sono used to say
hundreds of years ago to anyone
who came to her in search of healing.
Each day, she told them, repeat:
“Thank you for everything, I have
no complaints whatsoever.”
Copyright 2024 James Crews
James Crews’s recent books include a poetry anthology The Wonder of Small Things and a collection of prose Kindness Will Save the World: Stories of Compassion and Connection. As a professional speaker, reader, and workshop leader, he has touched audiences all over the world with his message of healing and hope through the power of writing.
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Oh, how I love that ending to your beautiful poem, James!
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Yes, I do too!
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Thank you James! And thank you for posting Michael
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James’s poem is great, isn’t it?
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James has a remarkable ability to encounter ordinary moments, peer through the layers of reality that most people miss, and illuminate a gem to add to the sparkle of life. I relish each poem he creates.
Thanks for posting this one.
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Well-said, Sharon. Thanks for the insight.
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It’s so difficult to describe a ‘new’ smell — and Crews does it perfectly here, with:
“I did, now with a name for the rank
musk that hung in the air around us,
what I’d thought must just be
crushed pine needles, the scent
of churned-up soil.
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Yes, smell is the most primal of our senses, closest to nature. James captures that quality.
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Love the poem, Michael. Thanks for this James Crews gem.
I appreciate you, Susan Sailer
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Thank you, Susan. What a lovely thing to say.
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That’s beautiful.
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yes it is.
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Thank you. I may add this poem to my morning rituals
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me too, Barbara. James’s poems always seem like prayers to me.
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The po
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🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎
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Yes, I love this poem as well
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