GRATITUDE I
For Jeff Blake
My friend asks
how to make the other side.
As though it were a leap
that we need to draw enough breath in
to take.
But its not an in breath
but a release
we need.
We tell him
he’s already there.
That heaven is here.
And when he is ready
he will take it with him.
Ana Lisa de Jong
March 2018
GRATITUDE II
Gratitude makes a door
that widens to become a house
where we all go in and out.
A House in which we live,
and move
and invite others in.
A House we carry
as a Church
in our hearts.
A Church that has no walls
or windows
but only light.
Yes, to live with gratitude
is always to widen our
circles.
The way we travel
is not just forward
but out.
The way we look
is not just up
but in.
Gratitude expanding us
until all we love,
is all that is.
Ana Lisa de Jong
March 2018
Image: My own
Living Tree Poetry 