Welcome Morning

By: Anne Sexton

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.