November 22, 2010

  • Thanksgiving Poetry: A Wayback Post

    I'm still on hiatus. Here's a poetry post from 2005 containing poetry inspired by the American holiday of Thanksgiving, which falls this Thursday. In 2010, one of the things for which I give thanks are the loyal and dedicated readers who still make the time to read my sporadic blog entries.

    I have been pondering the concept of "gratitude". "Thanksgiving" is defined sometimes as a benediction or prayer. To "whom" do we give thanks and why. We can look around and be thankful for our own existence, our health, our family and friends, and our own determination, wherewithal, and stamina involved in the very act of living in the modern world. We can thank God, the Great Spirit, the cosmos, our own inner spirit and intellect. We can be fearful of events beyond our control, and then be thankful that we have been passed by. If disaster has struck us or our families and friends, we can be thankful that it wasn't worse.

    Some denizens of existence might not even care to BE thankful. They might feel and think as if the world is coming to an end, because perhaps their own personal world has seemed to terminate, and they don't feel thankful, but angry and upset. There are many reasons why people think and feel the way they do. In America, the Thanksgiving Holiday usually means eating a 'feast' consisting of traditional foodstuffs, which usually includes Ben Franklin's idea for a symbol of the country itself, the turkey, and a "prayer" of some sort, to "give thanks" to the Godhead for sparing us another bad winter.

    The concept of "giving thanks" as a prayer predates Christianity. Early man watched the cycle of the seasons, planted crops, and harvested them for sustenance during the cold winter season. If the crops failed, the tribe would thin, and in times of bounty, which sometimes might be precluded by animal or human sacrifice to "appease" perceived angry "gods", the tribe would "thank" the gods for smiling on them. The "Holiday" of Thanksgiving has roots which reach back to early religions, although the "Pilgrims" were a Christian sect.

    I, like many other Americans, set aside a few moments during the Holidays to give thanks for my existence, no matter how difficult or unseemly it might be, because I am always an optimist, and no amount of "bad luck" or "crop failures" really get me down to the point that I can't be thankful I am still here. My youthful suicidal urges and depressions are always sent back to the nether regions of my intellect when I concentrate on the more positive aspects of society and living. I have penned a few poems which relate this thanks throughout my life.

    The first was written after my mother's bi lateral stroke, when I was 19, while she was hospitalized and the future didn't look particularly blissful or complete. She died a few years later, still basically a "vegetable". My father passed away two years after wrting this poem. The second poem was written in 1978, at age 25, during my "Cathy phase" when I loved a gal who didn't love me. I don't call the piece "a Cathy Poem" but basically, it is, and addresses her by name. The third was penned in 2004, and was first featured on this blog. The last one was written the morning this post was first put online in 2005, and it alludes to my meeting Elizabeth, my girlfriend from 2005-2007.

    There is lots to be thankful for, even if one doesn't realize it. Look around. Breathe deep. Relax for a moment, and take stock of the love and care we have in our lives, and say a small prayer of gratitude, to whomever or whatever you might pray. The prayer is answered on a daily basis, as the sun and moon cycle over head as they have for millennia.

     

    "Thanksgiving Prayer"
    Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri © 1972: 19 years old


    Thank you Lord
    Though my mom is lying in the hospital right now
    Though the doctors say she might not...
    Though my dad is crying in his heart
    every night
    Though my sister thinks she's found a love
    At last
    And nobody knows if it'll hold on
    Though my brother is reaching
    That stage of life when uncertainty
    Becomes the daily watchword
    Though my friend might be drafted
    Into a war he never asked for
    Though my world seems more
    at a standstill than it ever did
    Before.

    Thank you for the sun rising in the morning
    Thank you for the faces I see on the street
    Thank you for the animals
    Who cannot talk but still can communicate
    Thank you for my world
    No matter how bad it may be

    Thank you that I can still cry

     

    "A Thanksgiving Prayer 1978"
    Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
    © Thursday, November 23rd, 1978 12:15 p.m.


    At times I feel everything is perfect
    A beautiful morning makes me want to
    burst into song
    (like in the movies)
    I get that feeling like I used to back in
    college when I'd drive down the freeway
    after classes thinking - this is it - the
    catharsis - me and my my machine - alone - together
    winding down the ribbon of asphalt -
    nothing to mess up my thinking -
    total control...
    I can reach out and hug strangers
    on the street - I feel like
    SCREAMING
    "I'm alive - can you feel it?"

    And at times like this I miss you most.

    Then

    At times I feel like the world doesn't
    want me around -
    A friendly compliment makes me mad
    I feel everybody is playing the game
    of MindF**k -
    I lash out at people - objects - ideas -
    situations
    I'd punch the mirror if it would hurt
    me -

    And at times like this you always
    seem to be around

    I'm okay
    I'm not crying now (well, hardly)
    It's a beautiful day
    And I view a verdant field
    - and you and I are in the picture
    Caressing each other with our dreams
    And comforting each other with
    our desires.

    If only
    If only
    If only I could open up all the time
    And feel like it's all right
    then I wouldn't worry too much
    about your leaving
    The problem is with my conception -
    I warp it all the time to please
    myself

    There are only a few clouds
    rimming the horizon
    The sky is a brilliant blue
    The birds singe innocently
    I'll see you again
    And I'll counter your smile with my own
    You are a separate being
    Because you're a human spirit
    And I love you for that
    Too.

    Thank you Cathy
    Thank you world.


     
    "Thanksgiving Prayer 2004"
    Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
    © 11/23/04 5:14 a.m. pst

    Walls of debt, unscalable, portending certain hardship
    (But 'twas my cavalier decisions at the cause)
    Lack of romance and close friendships
    (But I'm better off than most of humanity this holiday)
    Depressions which last longer as the wrinkles increase
    (But so what?, life goes on, or else it stops)

    Impossible feelings when I read the newspaper
    (Yet similar events have been happening all my life)
    Increasing fear that somehow all is wrong
    (Yet a light shines into the darkest depths of despair)
    Another holiday meal spent in a restaurant alone
    (Yet at least I'll have a feast, some won't)

    Manmade appliances seem to fall into disarray
    (Still sunrise and sunset calm us with each cycle)
    Doubts and dissensions plague our daily element
    (Still the the cats purr for my attention and I smile)
    Sometimes Thanksgiving seems to have no definition
    (Still serenity ekes a willing and graceful answer) 
     
    A hummingbird trills his small but mighty wings
    Hallelujah, true, life is wrought with pain and suffering
    An Angel with her throaty voice still sings
    A sudden cloudburst serves a cause for buffering

    These plights are nothing, in the grander scheme
    And as I look Heavenward, I thank thee for everything

     

    Thanksgiving Prayer 2005
    Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
    © 11/23/05 4:28 a.m. pst

    Another milestone passes on the road to eventual salvation
    Another year filled with doubts, deliberations, and denial
    Another chance for satisfaction and conversation with peers
    Another day, another thankful prayer.

    Gratitude gives hope to petty permanence
    Thanking my personal God and Great Spirit
    for a chance to breathe without predicament
    To sigh in wonder
    As I watch the sunrise and sunset of cosmic stability
    Again and again,
    Never slighted or apathetic when entranced with existence

    I still stand with both feet on the ground
    I still wish to touch humanity's face
    I still relish my friends both real and virtual
    And sometimes the virtual becomes real
    As happened this year,
    Giving me happiness and love

    My prayer is duplicated and subdivided
    Spinning and shooting through heaven with a purpose
    Doubling back upon me with everlasting love
    My prayer is overflowing with gramercy and gratefulness
    Gauging gargantuan graciousness
    Going the distance of my dilemmas
    Drowned in exciting premonitions of hopefulness

    Another milestone breaking the millstone of murkiness
    As love and understanding seep through my soul
    I may feast alone as usual,
    But my love feasts on grateful goodness
    In the bower of humanity this Thanksgiving Day

Comments (76)

  • Considering reading one of your poems, the one from 2005 to my family this Thanksgiving Day.  Do have a good holiday.  

  • These are so wonderful! I love that your poems reflect what was going on in your life at the time you wrote them...your thoughts and emotions.

    To borrow from you...this is how I feel today..."I can reach out and hug strangers on the street - I feel like SCREAMING"I'm alive - can you feel it?"

    HUGS to you, Mike!
    Thank you for sharing your poems!

  • I am struck by your balance of reality of the negatives of life with hopefulness and thankfulness for gooness. The content with poetic expression of it is a powerful combination. You are blessed by God with this talent. That also is deserving of thanks.

    I am thankful you share your talents with others.

    ~~Blessings, Prayers 'n Cheers

  • I love this post, Mike!  I'm really trying to focus on being joyful and thankful in my life right now, starting today...and your post put such beautiful words to my thoughts and desires.  I especially love that first poem that you wrote at 19 yrs. old.  That says it all, really--that's what it's about.  Thank you so much for sharing this, Mike; it's perfect to me in its theme and timing :)   I hope you have a wonderful week, friend!

  • I love your balance Mike.  Thanks for sharing with us.  I have been gone for a couple of weeks. Work got busy and then was in the hospital with a bad intestinal bug.  Fun!   Hope you are doing well this Thanksgiving.  May this year be better for you.

    Hugs

    Kat

  • These are wonderful poems. Thank you for sharing them.

  • Beautiful!

  • Very inspiring poemS. T he first one truly shows courage and gratefulness amidst uncertainties!

  • Mike: thanks for the wayback post! Your insights - and sharing the stories behind them - are an uplifting thing, indeed.

    Sometimes it's a struggle to, "Celebrate the fantastic voyage of just being alive!" - for the same reasons that you posted here - but we must find ways, both large and small, to do just that - much the same as was posted here.

    I remember a couple Holiday dinners that were celebrated, after a fashion, at restaurants that were staffed by employees who had failed the luck of the draw for off days. It's not a fun feeling - not by a long shot - but it is, to a degree, inevitable.

    This year, I may be postponing Bird Day in favor of setting the array for the weekend; however, there's the great part that I'm still employed, still have a roof, still have the fuzz-faced brigade to greet me [cats], and still have a whole hell of a lot going for me.

    Lots of folks I know in the walking world have it better than I, it is true - but they seem to enjoy it less? Sad, but true.

    Hug your friends tight. Laugh, even if you're the only one in the room. It's all good.

    Thanks again for sharing. I look forward to future posts of yours.

  • Dear Mike,

    Happy Thanksgiving!  You're missed around here, and it's good to hear from you.  I enjoyed reading the contrast in poetry from your youth to near-present, and seeing how your perspective has changed, from youth struggling with pain to an acceptance of life as maturity was gained.

    I hope your day is filled with peace and love, and friendship, of course.
    Monica

  • Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours !!!

  • Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Mike

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