A wonderful husband to have and to hold,
Beautiful children to cherish and to learn from,
Cuddling and cute puppies to show me unconditional love,
Definitely these are blessings to appreciate.
Enough food to keep me very well nourished,
Family events to keep me busy and fulfilled,
Great music to enjoy in my colonial home,
How could I ever think there was nothing to appreciate?
Intelligent students to challenge my days,
Joyous teaching moments make planning lessons great,
Kind hearted teenagers saying just the right thing to make me smile,
Life is surely full of everyday miracles to appreciate.
Moments alone to pray to my God,
Never alone because the Lord is with me,
Only my faith to help keep me fulfilled and free,
Pondering daily all that I truly do appreciate.
Questioning whether I know answers to life’s puzzles,
Relishing learning about myself new each day,
Stubbornly knowing I can do all things through my inner strength,
Truly I have more and more to appreciate.
Unique and precious companions through my life’s journey,
Very kind friends surround me with joyous laughter,
Wanting to help me through good times and bad,
Xtreme gratitude for them is what I do appreciate.
Yesterday’s memories to cherish with joy,
Zero negative emotions to harbor in my soul.
A lifetime ahead to look forward to with an eager heart.
I am so blessed for all I appreciate.
Author notes
I wrote this for the May 2005 Coffee House at ACE - the alternative high school where I work.
graphic taken from www.monomania.ca/2004/alphabet.jpg
Written April 30th, 2005
In a list
God is so good - all the time.....
Comments
1 - 37 of 37
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Amen to that.
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Thank you for your submission to my contest. Let's see what I can find to critique =)
I'd rather you didn't capitalize the beginnings of each line unless necessary. For instance, lines B, C, and D do not need capitals.
Line A: The word 'wonderful' is overly used in modern writing. As are amazing, awesome, and beautiful. I'd prefer to see a more original word choice.
Line B: This can probably be just 'to cherish and learn from'.
Line C: Cute puppies? I get what you're going for, but there's nothing quite as cliché and boring to read about as cute puppies.
Line F: Family 'events' doesn't really describe the situation well enough for the reader to relate to. Family gatherings, family nights, family picnics, etc.
Line G: 'Enjoy' is a very flat verb. I enjoy being with my friends. I enjoy making love. I enjoy the sun. It doesn't express exactly how you feel about the music. I'd use a stronger word here.
Line H: I like the connections with lies D, H, L, P, T, X, and the final closing. It helps to pull the poem together.
Line J: The same 'strength' issue with the word 'great'.
Line Q: This doesn't really sound like a thing that can be appreciated, to me. I'd like to have an in-poem explanation as to why this makes you happy.
Line X: Gah, no. This x word is a cop-out. Don't just give up when it gets difficult.
You cheated a bit with the last two lines. Its like adding two lines of hh in a sonnet: it's just not done.
Thank you again for your submission. This has definite potential. I look forward to the rewrite -
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Thanks so much for your wonderful critique. I have been fighting with that X line for two years. The one you read is not the original one and I have not given up on it!
The piece was originally written to be read at a coffee house so those last two lines were put in there as a closing....
Again, thank you so much and best of luck with your contest. These are one of the hardest types of poems to write but they are fun.
- joanne
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You're very welcome. Yes, these are difficult poems to write well. I'm actually surprised that I'm getting a good amount of decent submissions.
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This poem is very very happy...But it stuck to the rules and I am very happy that someone entered this option! I really do like it and good luck in my contest and thank you for entering! -
An interesting attempt at a difficult acrostic - though I feel the allusion to Xerxes was rather too obviously to cope with a difficult letter (and since his attempt to conquer Greece ended so diastrously, he is perhaps not a good example of someone with a lot to appreciate!) but it goes on to the "champagne" list - and thank you for making it legible.
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When I read this at the coffee house, I had to pause for effect to pull off the Xerxes line......duh...perhaps someday I will get a better line fo the all too difficult X!
-joanne
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PLEASE, if you want this poem considered for the " virtual champagne" - which will mean it will receive at least 100 points - could you change the format to that specified in Rule 6 of the competition - namely black typing on plain white or very pale pastel background.
Otherwise, it wil go on the "virtual fruit juice" list and receive only 50 points. (But it will at the least qualify for that 50 points - so please do not remove it from the competition until you receive a notice that the points have been transferred). -
That was a very nice poem. It felt personal, but at the same time, I could really relate to it.
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you are very clever this couldnt have been easy well done
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sweet
aww. it was so cute. i felt like counting my bleesings as well. -
great work
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very beautiful. and so sincere. hugs to you!
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a gret poem.
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the depth of this poem flows as your heart shows the pride in this write..flow is nicely posted..word usage is good.. structurelly sound.. nice poem over all..keep penning good luck..
Linda -
good
Good work done -
Very pleasant read. I am not fond of acrostics as a rule, but this one works for me.
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I just popped back to read this again.
I can truly say that it is one of the best poems I have read here on AP. It reads even better the second time around. I would like to see it in the feature box so I am sending you 100 points to post it. Just let me know if thats OK with you before I do it.
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oh my!!! its so good that someone finnaly commented on it... i was starting to get worried that it was horrible!.... Thanks a million! Yes for teh 5 feet tall part i did wonder about that.. but oh well it rhymed! so thank you again!
your -
yasmin -
Nice job! A-z appreciation!
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Awesome!
Oh, wow, Joanne! You've done a wonderful job of covering every letter of the alphabet; and, if I were a betting person, I would wager that you would have come up with more blessings if there had been more letters! I only can imagine how hard this was to do and still have it flow as well as rhyme beautifully. Simply awesome, my friend!
Lots of love and hugs, B♥nnieQ 
Edited on Oct 16, 2:20 p.m. because ''. -
love the pic, and love the poem. very deep and thought provoking. great job and good luck in the contest!
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really nice. a bit mushier then I am used to, but as a teenager mushy poems don't get written about life!!! good write!!!
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excellent
Now those are the words of a deep thinking and genuine lady. I get the feeling you have strong values and great morals. You also give the impression of a kind generous soul. In fact one really Cool lady. This poem is so good. It says it all and really makes us consider our blessings. A Great Poem.
Edited on Jun 28, 9:22 p.m. because 'puter kept sticking and missing letters'. -
Creative
Very nicely done! I also liked ur author comment
This is a most creative way to tackle the given style of write. I think its a good idea for anyone to do... truely count and list their blessings!
Best of Luck and well wishes!
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A wonderful reminder to each and every reader to count their blessings, whether you intended to draw out that sort of response or not. I don't think someone could read this all and not find at least one thing in their own lives to appreciate. Nice work! Best of luck in the contest! God bless and write on, Sim.
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nice
Very nice write...
smooth flow,
doesnt sound out of the way...
Keep writing! -
a blessing of the spirit
A+ TEACH the good life. -
Anyone can write an ABC poem, but you succeeded in making each stanza complete in thought/atmosphere. It wasn't at all disjointed. Impressive.
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impressive!
Hey, that's imressive! good job. I like the repitition of "appreciate" - it links the verses together. I don't think it's a bad idea. I thought it made the whole thing flow well, since it provided a sense of continuity to the whole poem, instead of simply having a bunch of random lines about random things.
Oh, and the verses of 4 lines each was a good idea. Makes it nice and neat.
Great job!
God bless,
Steve -
I am probably going to read this at a school event so I needed to engage the listeners. I'm using the repetition of"appreciate" in the last line of each stanza purposely as an attention getter and for emphasis. Perhaps it is too much?
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Even though im in this contest too, this is a pretty good write you have minus the exception that the word 'appreciate' is over used too many times but overall this was a nice write that held alot of spiritual emotions keep up the good work and good luck in the contest -
Powerful faith here.
Well I must say that this is one of the finest ones that you have written and yes you were definetly up to the challenge. You did so well that I have to bow to you and hope that you win this one. Wonderful poem so eloquently stated. -
Nice poem, its good that you have in mind all the things that complete you, and Im jealoud of your colonial home, they happen to be an infatuation for me, good luck in the contest, and Im curious to know how a teacher (if I assume correctly) can be so at peace LOL. Im sure the students appreciate you. Good luck.
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Mmm...I love to count my blessings in my darkest hour. I hope you enjoyed the challenge as much as I did.
And yes, it was extremely challenging, hence the 600 points. I have to wonder: Are you a teacher?
I enjoyed reading this. Thank you for entering and good luck.
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You seem to have a pretty blessed life, I'm happy for you! This poem is great. it's got such a positive happy feel to it that I could not but read it all to the end without stopping once. Nice write and good luck in the contest!
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Warm
I don't know if you'll win the contest because it doesn't immediately click with readers; it's like a song that you have to hear several times over before it grows on you. There's a warm, down-to-earth feel about this piece. Refreshing, because the theme of this abc piece is gratitude - and how many people dwell on that for long, or even at all? I applaud this for the imtention behind it, of counting blessings, and showing readers that life really isn't pointless or hell or meaningless. Readers will wake up because of the various blessings you point out, and they will count theirs in turn.
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