Today, I’m thankful for a very productive year. And I just wanted to share with you one of the poems from my new book. (The picture above is from a recent reading and book signing event.)

I wrote this poem when I was 17 years old.

Many of the poems in the new book were written during the COVID pandemic, but I’ve included some from when I was younger as well.

A Prayer Of Thanksgiving

Our thanks are turned upward
for all things of life; 
our thanks are for happiness
and absence of strife. 

Each day we get busy and forget that all 
things are good, and from God they do fall. 
 
The food for our bodies,
sweet taste for our tongues, 
clear air of the mountains
that thrives in our lungs.
The shade in the summer,
the color of fall, 
the sun in the winter,
Spring’s birth lifts us all. 
 
We thank Thee for freedom
when tyranny draws near; 
Of speech, of religion,
of press and from fear. 
We thank Thee for unity,
united we stand; 
Thanks for the privilege
of life in this land. 
 
We thank Thee for literature,
both poetry and prose; 
and thanks for the mean
from whence music arose. 
Also for sculpture,
a glorification of Thee; 
and the painters fine art,
whose great beauty we see. 
 
Last, but not least,
we thank Thee for our souls,  
the peak of creation
Thou made in Thy molds. 

We’re glad that Thou made us, Lord, able to pray, 
to worship, and give thanks to Thee every day.

(-Ray Rogers, age 17)

I hope you have a wonderful week.

If you want to get a copy of my latest book, Poems, you can CLICK HERE to get it.