ASANTE - Thank you

“But now, standing still together,

even as we’re spinning and racing through space,

even if it’s only a whisper,

when faced with the truth that great forces hold

our lives in place,

it feels right to say…”

...Asante Sana…Asante, Asante Sana.

This is Swahili for “Thank you, thanks, thank you very much.”

This still comes up in me…these Swahili words from my childhood (In Tanzania).

MOSTLY now when I’m moved almost beyond words,

when I am so utterly and deeply grateful that just THANK YOU

doesn’t seem to be enough.

These Swahili words are

SOUL words for me.

Words ‘outside of time’

Words I knew and I’m sure I heard… before I was born.

Words that express

my ‘down on my knees’ heartfelt

gratitude, from the depths of my being

To the GREAT I AM…

Words that express how THANKFUL I am

HOW utterly and completely I am in awe of each breath.

How I KNOW that I know that I know…

“Great forces” that are way beyond our control…”hold our lives in place.”

And how utterly and completely grateful I am.

For this moment. For this GIFT OF LIFE.

FOR this ‘being alive’;

Even in the midst of unpredictability and heartache,

This beautiful terrible ache of ‘aliveness.’

Asante Sana was the only thing I could

say when we found out we were pregnant 17+ years ago.

And, is again, the only thing I can say today

As my 88 year old father is miraculously alive

After an intense health crisis,

now adjusting to his new assisted living apartment.

This EVEN BEING HERE is gift. For EACH one of us.

Every moment a grace..."now, standing still together...

It feels right to say..."

Asante Sana…Asante…Asante Sana.

        ~ by Marcella Kraybill-Greggo

(Today's poem prompt from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer's poem: “It’s Like This”

https://ahundredfallingveils.com/2023/11/23/its-like-this/). What might YOUR poem be...with this prompt?  Feel free to share a line in response to this prompt or a whole poem!