Thankless

This might sound funny, but after becoming a Christian, one of the little things I appreciated was having someone to thank. I remember getting a chili dog at 7-11 one night, biting into it, and so enjoying the cheap, convenience store vibe of the dish that I spontaneously said, “Thank you, Lord!” As I said it, the realization broke over me that I actually had someone to thank for the many good things in my life. Before that, of course, I still enjoyed things but the ability to acknowledge the One who is the source of all good things infinitely raised my enjoyment.

Not long ago I was remembering this moment in my life and decided to write a whimsical inquiry into how and where we might give thanks if we don’t believe in God. The result was, “Thankless,” a sonnet that will appear in my fourth book, which I haven’t titled yet.

Thankless

These days, who can we thank?  Let’s hit rewind
and see what we can find: regrowing all
our hair and stooping more and more until
our knuckles drag the ground again.  Then lured
into the sea from shore, exchanging hair
for scales and hands for fins, we backstroke back
to backbone-less worms squirming through the muck,
becoming single cells with none to spare.

What then?  Perhaps we thank our lucky stars.
No, we thank the big bang.  No, a super
dense lump of matter: Bless us density
and these, thy gifts, received through thy bounty,
which bigly banged and spattered space with stuff.
(Though ‘splaining where the density’s from is tough).