Thankful Quite Thankful

for the thin clear soup
for the old man who shuffles along
as if he might be carrying
in that steamy bowl
all our children’s futures

for this and for the chicken
the blood that swirled
the cook who peeled
the forty cloves

don’t tell me you’ve
been oversleeping
all your subscriptions expired
and no access to cable

actually I bet you couldn’t
balance a checkbook
I mean if humanity were a Fortune 500
we’d’ve fired you a couple millennia ago

none of us ever did like the prima donnas
who show up for weddings
but where are they when you need
for instance help with moving?

spider webs and the crab nebulae aside
what sort of comfort are cooing doves
the half-honk half-squeak of herons?
Thankful quite thankful

for the suctioned legs of an octopus
that color like a bruise
for tulips and the woman
who served up (grumpily
with a few swift thwacks)
the best pizza in all Sicily

praise the lawn
boisterous with beetles
praise the wide windows
out of which we see

the Hing Loon restaurant
though mostly this thin clear soup
this bowl so carefully