“Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity," wrote T.S. Eliot. For those who need an outlet for creativity during self-isolation and social distancing, Lit Cleveland is offering free writing challenges each week via our newsletter. The following piece is a response to the "List" prompt.

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Nashukuru (I am grateful)

by Oluremi Ann Oliver

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I am grateful in this day

I am grateful in this time

I am grateful in this body

I am grateful in this condition
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I am grateful in this house

I am grateful in this city

I am grateful in this country

I am grateful in this country
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I am grateful for the hindsight that is 20/20

I am grateful for the vision of things yet to come

I am thankful for the things I learned that came as a surprise

I am grateful for what I’ve learned through suffering
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I am grateful for the poems

I am grateful for the poems that technically are essays

I am grateful for the essays that technically are poems

I am grateful for the words

I am grateful for the words

I am grateful for the trees

I am grateful for the stillness of the trees

I am grateful for the wind catching the stillness of the trees and making them sway

I am grateful for the sounds of the swaying trees

I am grateful for the day

I am grateful for city and the vision

I am grateful for the words and the poems and the stillness

I am grateful for the trees

I am grateful for the trees

I am grateful

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