[Inspiration]

i don't have to create poetry
it already exists in the world around me

i see poetry
in coming home to a room lit with christmas lights
in bowls of hot soup and rolls at my favorite coffee shop
in mugs filled with holiday lattes, hot apple cider, and weak coffee

i see poetry
in friends-turned-sisters who will call and talk
even when it's 11pm and i'm doing dishes
and i don't really have anything to say
i just wanted to hear her voice

i see poetry
in the father who wears long underwear
because he knows his kids like the house cold
in the brother who brings his uncles good beer
and patiently teaches his sister how to make chocolate mousse

i see poetry
in the cousin who bakes a half-dozen loaves of her mother's bread
so there's enough for us to all take one home
in the cousin who used to sit me on his lap when I was a young child
and tell me of his desire for children,
now gently lay his hand on his wife's pregnant belly

i see poetry
in three generations
grandmother, mother, granddaughter
lying on the floor of the living room
sharing and laughing and digesting from the full meal

i see poetry
in my two uncles, brothers that remain
sitting in the kitchen to make room for us to eat
one who stays late to do the dishes
one whose eye's fill with tears at every toast
as he remembers the loss of his parents and three brothers

i see poetry
in the grandmother who watches a video
of her granddaughter seven times in one night
and will show it to anyone willing to watch
pride and love and a hint of loneliness shining in her eyes

i see poetry
in a family that has experienced great loss
that knows of pain and grief and death
but sees the beauty, the soul necessity, of coming together
and knows of celebration and joy and new life

i see poetry
in rolling out homemade dough on a floured countertop
in slicing green apples and carefully measuring cups of flour
in writing new ingredients in the margins of old recipes
in the process of creating

i see poetry
in the big things that are deemed small
in the hardship and the fulfillment
in celebration and in joy
because of all the good things a good God gives

i see poetry
in the world around me
and so i give thanks