Counted Blessings, Uncounted Curses

Counted Blessings, Uncounted Curses

Hardly a day goes by that I

   Don’t try to count a blessing or two

Or three. It’s kind of a race

   I run against discouragement and despair.

Counting a blessing really does work

   Even if that blessing is as simple a thing

As a faucet that works again after an easy repair,

   Or a car that starts the first time you turn the key

When it’s raining cats and dogs and you need it to start,

   Or a something as simple as a banana in winter.

Blessings are everywhere lifting us up

   As effectively as counting up the curses

Makes you bitter, angry, melancholy,

   Less certain about moving forward.

So I call them out one by one by name.

   Even the little goodnesses you seldom think about.

It takes a little effort, staying ahead of despair.

   Counting up the tiny gifts that come our way.

But it’s worth it if it helps you stay ahead

   Of the darkness of the counted curses.

By Tom King

© 2018