Thoreau on Thanksgiving

Walden Pond Revisited by N C Wyeth

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see…

— Thoreau

I am grateful for what I am and have. 
My thanksgiving is perpetual. 
It is surprising how contented 
one can be with nothing definite - 
only a sense of existence. 

Well, anything for variety. 

I am ready to try this for the next 
ten thousand years, and exhaust it. 
How sweet to think of! 
my extremities well charred, 
and my intellectual part too, 
so that there is no danger 
of worm or rot for a 
long while. 

My breath is sweet to me. 
O how I laugh when I think 
of my vague indefinite riches. 

No run on my bank can drain it, 
for my wealth is not possession 
but enjoyment.