Counting Our Sums*

Not the final number
that matters
but the act itself,
choosing to count
blessings before blights.
My counting includes:
the Boys in the Bed (don't worry-it's legal) -
my husband John,
the cat boys Tom and Oscar,
my first defense
against cold inside and out.
Thus fortified,
I continue adding-
coffee, always coffee,
after which family and friends
can be appreciated.
Some friends are human,
others are words
to read and write,
a comfort and refuge.
Next I give thanks
for a fledgling faith
and life circumstances
that allow
the luxury of reflection.
Here, still here,
counting blessings.

*"We are all blessed and we're all blighted...Every day each of us
does our sums.The question is, what do we count?"
Louise Penny - "The Murder Stone"

A.H.