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Poet Laura: Gratitude + Credo Poems in the New Year

By Karen Paul Holmes 37 Comments

Rope on beach for credo poems

Starting the Year With Gratitude + Credo Poems

If you’re like me, you could come up with a big list of New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you already have. I decided to start with a list of gratitudes. It seems like this is what I need right now, more than a syllabus of all the things I should do and change this year.

For probably everyone in the world, the last two years have been, at best, somewhat of a blur and, at worst, horribly traumatic. So let’s instead look at poems that praise the everyday goodness of life.

The first that comes to mind is Ross Gay’s Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which is probably my favorite poem title ever and is also the title of the book in which it appears. It’s a long poem full of humor and gravitas, little things and profound things, and one of my favorite parts is this:

Thank you to the woman barefoot in a gaudy dress
for stopping her car in the middle of the road
and the tractor trailer behind her, and the van behind it,
whisking a turtle off the road.
Thank you god of gaudy.

Read the whole poem here.

“The Joy Bringer” by Thomas Lux is another poem that catalogs gratitude, crediting a being called the joy bringer for many things including:

the chilled artesian water
spilling from a pipe only two inches above the ground,
from which you drank on your hands and knees,
on a few boards or branches, you bowed in the muck and drank
that sweet cold reaching-up.

Tweetspeak Poet Laura Chicken

You’ll find that poem in his wonderful book God Particles.

I also love this simple yet mighty poem in which the poet Donna Hilbert exclaims her credo, which Merriam-Webster defines as “a guiding belief or principle.” Notice the detail she includes to bring readers into the scenes of her life – scenes that could easily be part of our lives, too. Hilbert’s credo poem demonstrates its own kind of gratitude.

Credo Poems

Credo

I believe in the Tuesdays
and Wednesdays of life,
the tuna sandwich lunches
and TV after dinner.
I believe in coffee with hot milk
and peanut butter toast,
Rose wine in summer
and Burgundy in winter.

I am not in love with holidays,
birthdays—nothing special—
and weekends are just days
numbered six and seven,
though my love
 dozing over TV golf
while I work the Sunday puzzle
might be all I need of life
and all I ask of heaven.

—Donna Hilbert

After reading that poem, I was inspired to write my own credo poem.

Credo

—after Donna Hilbert

I believe in the wakings
and sleepings of life,
afternoon naps where I dream
I’m in Bali again in the Monkey Forest,
a palm-sized baby reaching
with hairless human fingers
for the banana in my daughter’s hand.

I count on slow boat rides
with friends on warm weekends
or the wave-smacks of pulling
kids on tubes and wakeboards.
Squeals skim the lake until
fireworks star the sky.

Then it’s the winding downs,
the heading upstairs. The sips of merlot,
while my love and I settle
into a BBC mystery,
shoulders touching, legs stretched
together on the ottoman.

I have faith in my daughter’s
phone calls from Singapore,
her toast crunching
while I’m turning off lights,
tucking in the dogs.
My night, her morning.
And she is rising.

I take comfort in believing
the Ubud healer’s words to me,
You’re healthy and know how to love.

—Karen Paul Holmes

from No Such Thing as Distance

Your Turn

What’s your favorite joyful or gratitude poem? Please share it by pasting it or linking to it in a comment below. Or… how about writing a credo poem of your own?

(Note, if you plan on submitting your unpublished poem to a journal, please be advised it will be considered previously published if you post it here. Publications like Every Day Poems, however, gladly welcome previously published work! A good poem is a good poem, after all. Worthy of being experienced again.)

Photo by Marco Nürnberger, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Karen Paul Holmes, 2022 Tweetspeak Poet Laura and author of No Such Thing as Distance. “Credo” by Donna Hilbert is from The Green Season (2nd edition, World Parade Books, 2012). Used with permission. (You can read Donna’s latest work in her brand new book Threnody.)

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Karen Paul Holmes
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Karen Paul Holmes
Karen Paul Holmes has two poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Kelsay Books, 2014). Her poems have appeared in many journals and have been featured on The Writers' Almanac and The Slowdown.

In her former life, Karen was VP-Communications at a global financial services corporation, and she now works as a freelance business writer and consultant. Her ghost-written articles have appeared in many industry publications under executive bylines.
Karen Paul Holmes
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Latest posts by Karen Paul Holmes (see all)
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Filed Under: Blog, Poet Laura, poetry prompt

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About Karen Paul Holmes

Karen Paul Holmes has two poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Kelsay Books, 2014). Her poems have appeared in many journals and have been featured on The Writers' Almanac and The Slowdown.

In her former life, Karen was VP-Communications at a global financial services corporation, and she now works as a freelance business writer and consultant. Her ghost-written articles have appeared in many industry publications under executive bylines.

Comments

  1. Megan Willome says

    January 5, 2022 at 9:23 am

    One of my beloved gratitude poems is Tracy K. Smith’s The Good Life, which I chose for our December By Heart selection.

    Thanks for the prompt and for introducing me to three new-to-me poems.

    Here’s my Credo, drawn from Hilbert’s and yours:

    I believe in tea
    poetry—read and written—
    long walks in the dark

    I am not in love
    with meat, cities, hand-wringing,
    and too much sunshine

    I count on empty
    chapels, on friendships built small
    and oh so slowly

    I have faith, yes, in
    suffering and in sorrow
    as the road we take

    and in you, my love,
    in our loves together, all
    I need of heaven

    Reply
    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 5, 2022 at 9:31 am

      Love this!

      Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 5, 2022 at 9:32 am

      Yes, I love that simple poem by Tracy K. Smith! And thank you for sharing yours. “I count on empty / chapels, on friendships build small” — just lovely!

      Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      January 10, 2022 at 4:11 pm

      “all/ I need of heaven”

      Glad you shared this, Megan. 🙂

      Reply
    • Glenda C. Beall says

      February 6, 2022 at 1:25 am

      Touching and beautiful.

      Reply
  2. Sandra Heska King says

    January 5, 2022 at 9:27 am

    I bought my a One Line a Day book this year. (Amazon says it’s my 4th one.) I threw the other 3 away cuz I didn’t even make it through January of the first year in any of them. I’m determined this year to follow through this time. Or at least I’m hoping to. There’s room to actually write more than one line, and I resolved to make the last line a line of gratitude.

    I love Mary Oliver’s “Messenger.” It’s the first poem in her book, “Thirst”… and is actually printed in Amazon’s preview. It’s also perfect for Poetry at Work Day. 🙂

    My work is loving the world.
    Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird –
    equal seekers of sweetness.
    Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
    Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

    Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
    Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me
    keep my mind on what matters,
    which is my work,

    which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
    The phoebe, the delphinium.
    The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
    Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

    Which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
    and these body-clothes,
    a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
    to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
    telling them all, over and over, how it is
    that we live forever.

    Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 5, 2022 at 9:33 am

      So gorgeous!

      Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 5, 2022 at 9:34 am

      And, here’s to writing at least one line!

      Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      January 10, 2022 at 4:16 pm

      Such a treat to read all of this. That last stanza is something else, my friend. And I was also especially drawn to,

      “The phoebe, the delphinium.
      The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.”

      I <3 the pasture (or meadow).

      Reply
  3. L.L. Barkat says

    January 5, 2022 at 12:18 pm

    This is such an inspiring post, Karen. Thank for it. (And, you got me writing. A clear indication that the inspiration is long and wide! 🙂 )

    Credo. January 5th, 2022

        —after Megan Willome, after Karen Paul Holmes, after Donna Hilbert

    I believe in the trees
    for which I have no names—
    candelabra tree at the rise of the empty field path,
    silver-ghost-leaves-painted-against-the-pewter-sky tree,
    grey-dress tree with impossible amber bells
    ringing silent on a Hudson River shore,
    tree that clings to the cracked rocks where the summer water beads,
    take-cover trees that hid a year of secret discovery.

    Who could not have faith under the cloak of you, Emerald-Dark Weeping Tree
    at the turn of the cobblestone lane, where horses once delivered ladies
    to evenings at a mansion taken down and moved?
    Love-Tree who tangled yourself in yourself
    on the road by the river that always overflows in spring.
    Tree Where the Hundred Sparrows Sing whether in sun or shade.
    Even the Albino Tree (West coast, redwood, old)
    I’ve heard tell of … but not yet found.

    Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 5, 2022 at 1:27 pm

      Wow, Laura, I love all those tree descriptions as tree names! Beautiful, and how happy I am to have inspired you!

      Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      January 10, 2022 at 4:19 pm

      Love how you give names to the trees, especially that “candelabra tree” and the “grey-dress tree with impossible amber bells.” Reminds me of something Anne of Green Gables would appreciate. 😉

      Reply
  4. deb y felio says

    January 6, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    To my ancestral saints who passed on the ain’ts
    when naming what to be grateful for

    not comparing the haves of their neighbors
    but the at least it isn’ts that balance the score

    when the rain leaks through the roof, causing repair efforts to doubt
    the reply is “grab a bucket, at least we’re not in a drought!”

    when the cupboards are bare except for crackers and butter
    “it’s delicious – at least it’s not from the gutter”

    the teenager is ill, in bed aching and listless
    at least it isn’t worry, wondering where he is

    the car breaks down for the thirteenth time, causing a traffic jam
    At least it isn’t in the middle of the night – leaving us on the lam

    I was scared and scratched up when on ice I slipped
    then was reminded at least it wasn’t the apocalypse

    We don’t have any pedigrees, no college education
    At least it isn’t our common sense lost in translation

    When you’ve come through a lot with not much to spare
    we’ve learned to be grateful for what at least isn’t there.

    Reply
  5. Karen Paul Holmes says

    January 7, 2022 at 9:16 am

    Deb, thanks for sharing this tongue-in-cheek poem. I assume it’s your poem? I love your sense of humor in lines like this: “then was reminded at least it wasn’t the apocalypse,” especially when rhymed with “slipped.”

    Reply
    • deb y felio says

      January 7, 2022 at 12:08 pm

      Thanks, Karen! Yes. It’s my poem – hoping to bring a smile!

      Reply
      • lynn__ says

        January 8, 2022 at 4:14 pm

        You definitely made ME smile…thanks!

        Reply
        • debbie felio says

          January 8, 2022 at 4:46 pm

          “that’s what it’s all about!

          Reply
  6. Donna J Hilbert says

    January 8, 2022 at 11:12 am

    What a pleasure to read these poems and comments.

    Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 8, 2022 at 4:16 pm

      Yes!

      Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      January 10, 2022 at 4:09 pm

      I agree, Donna. Glad you stopped by to read and share your reaction. 🙂

      Reply
  7. lynn__ says

    January 8, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    “An attitude of gratitude”

    may seem a simple platitude

    But learning to appreciate

    small blessings given makes life great

    Give thanks for colored leaves on trees

    give thanks for buzzing honey bees

    I’m grateful to be breathing air

    i’m thankful my niece cuts my hair

    Sneak sniff of flower petals sweet

    taste gladly everything you eat

    Give thanks for babies’ soft new skin

    give thanks for sleep each night again

    Be happy for bright shining stars

    take care of Earth, can’t live on Mars

    We give our thanks to God above

    for sharing His abundant love

    Increase your joy, expand your mind

    count every blessing you can find!

    Hey, look at that…i even rhymed 🙂

    Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      January 10, 2022 at 4:07 pm

      Lynn, I like your note to, “take care of Earth, can’t live on Mars,” and that is so sweet about your niece cutting your hair (if you are in fact the same person as the Speaker of the poem). 😉

      Reply
      • lynn__ says

        January 11, 2022 at 8:26 pm

        I am 🙂 thanks for your response to my scribbles!

        Reply
  8. Karen Paul Holmes says

    January 9, 2022 at 7:11 am

    Lynn, thanks for posting your cheerful poem!

    Reply
    • lynn__ says

      January 11, 2022 at 8:31 pm

      My pleasure, Karen, and thanks to YOU for serving as TS “Poet Laura”.

      Reply
  9. Rick Maxson says

    January 10, 2022 at 10:44 am

    I wrote this several years ago.

    Credo

    This is the best I can do:
    that day in the blackberries,
    the copperhead,

    its scales like fallen leaves,
    motionless, under the green briars,
    under the blue sky.

    It was when I drew blood in the brambles
    and it dropped on the snake
    that I noticed him, so still,

    and I thought of you,
    hiding in the distant field,
    in the grasses and pied sycamores.

    I heard you, in the frail air,
    circling like a hawk, a suture
    binding heaven and earth.

    This is how I believe,
    between dim moonlight
    and the ferocity of the sun.

    You need not speak to beckon me,
    but today in the thorns,
    I think I felt your touch.

    Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 10, 2022 at 11:54 am

      wow, what an interesting poem — such images! Thank you, Rick.

      Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      January 10, 2022 at 4:22 pm

      Evocative poem, Rick. Creates such texture and sets a mood that lingers. I’m glad you shared it here with the community and that I got to read it.

      Reply
  10. Bethany R. says

    January 10, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    Karen, what an inspiring post you’ve written here. Thanks so much.

    I love the featured poem you shared! I have to write down the name of that and keep it. I’m so with the speaker, “I believe in the “Tuesdays/ and Wednesdays of life.”

    And then your lovely poem~I can see those little fingers and feel the “wave-smacks of pulling/ kids on tubes and wakeboards.”

    Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 11, 2022 at 10:07 am

      Bethany, thank you for being an engaged reader with this post and the comments/poems others shared. So nice of you to give a close reading and share your thoughts!

      Reply
  11. Gloria Heffernan says

    January 18, 2022 at 9:42 am

    Hi,
    Gratitude is one of my favorite topics. This poem is from my microchap, “Moonset,” which appears on the Origami Poem Project’s website:

    Gratitude

    You ask me to count my blessings—
    Easier to ask an ant
    to count the petals of a peony.
    Circumnavigating her pink planet,
    she scales the supple landscape,
    each petal revealing
    a new surface to explore.
    She will always lose count,
    so lost in that sweet nectar.

    I am that ant,
    drunk on the sweetness
    that surrounds me,
    grateful for every blessing,
    but powerless
    to count that high.

    Gloria Heffernan

    Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      January 18, 2022 at 9:50 am

      Gloria, thank you for sharing your sweet poem! “She will always lose count,
      so lost in that sweet nectar.”

      Reply
  12. Glenda C. Beall says

    February 6, 2022 at 1:32 am

    Karen, I am so glad I read your post here. My word for this year is gratitude. After all I have seen and endured lately, I am able to find much for which I am grateful. You have inspired me. I think I will write a poem about gratitude.

    Reply
  13. Karen Paul Holmes says

    February 6, 2022 at 8:26 am

    Glenda, it’s always heartwarming to hear that I inspired someone to write! I know your poem will be a good one, as usual. Take care, my friend!

    Reply
  14. Katie Spivey Brewster says

    April 11, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    I believe in hugs
    both short and long

    In atta-boy
    and you-go-girl

    In gifts for occasions
    or no reason at all

    In quality time
    as well as plenty of it

    In actions that say
    you matter

    In giving of self
    with generosity

    I believe we all can make a difference
    if we just pay attention and try

    Reply
    • Karen Paul Holmes says

      April 12, 2022 at 8:39 am

      Thanks for sharing, Katie. I love the idea of “hugs, both short and long.”

      Reply
      • Katie Spivey Brewster says

        June 21, 2022 at 1:20 pm

        Thank you, Karen:)

        Reply

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