Welcome Morning

A poetic gift and an invitation.

Good morning, friends. Here’s a little hello from me to you, and a reminder to sign up for my weekly writing project, Bushes Afire, right here on Substack.

Some years ago in graduate school, one of my dearest and smartest friends, Melissa Peterman, gave me a beautiful gift, The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton (see photos below of the book and her lovely inscription, which I cherish). I have been sitting here at my writing desk reading from it this morning, and was reminded of one of my favorite of her poems, Welcome Morning. Here it is for you, my good morning gift. Don’t you just love this line: “All this is God, right here in my pea-green house each morning.” I’m always working on “practicing gratitude,” and most days it takes something like a few words strung together in just the right way to remind me of it. This morning, I’m grateful for Melissa, Anne and all of you. Have a beautiful day friends, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

With Love,
Hollie Sue

Welcome Morning

There is joy

in all:

in the hair I brush each morning,

in the Cannon towel, newly washed,

that I rub my body with each morning,

in the chapel of eggs I cook

each morning,

in the outcry from the kettle

that heats my coffee

each morning,

in the spoon and the chair

that cry “hello there, Anne”

each morning,

in the godhead of the table

that I set my silver, plate, cup upon

each morning.

All this is God,

right here in my pea-green house

each morning

and I mean,

though often forget,

to give thanks,

to faint down by the kitchen table

in a prayer of rejoicing

as the holy birds at the kitchen window

peck into their marriage of seeds.

So while I think of it,

let me paint a thank-you on my palm

for this God, this laughter of the morning,

lest it go unspoken.

The Joy that isn’t shared, I’ve heard,

dies young.