“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.
Nashukuru (I am grateful)
by Oluremi Ann Oliver
I am grateful in this day
I am grateful in this time
I am grateful in this body
I am grateful in this condition
I am grateful in this house
I am grateful in this city
I am grateful in this country
I am grateful in this country
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
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
