Uploaded September 2024 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
The Gratitude List
Things I am grateful for
Jacuzzis in the fall
Foreign women laughing in a distant room
Jumping rope in Times Square
Elephants doing ballet in pink leotards at dawn
And knowing that I get to share my life with you
We jump on God’s palms as he elevates us
To the clouds
Presenting us to a jury of dust laughing
We are judged by none of nothing but eternity
Or the abyss we stare into
As it stares back into us
We expect to be damned or to ascend
But it simply asks
“What were you Grateful for”
Dancing at 3am
Breathwork at dawn
My child putting her shoes on the wrong feet and saying let’s go
Dressing as a princess in a dress with a unicorn
Writing a song for the first time
Writing a song for the hundredth and first time
Singing for the crowd in marseille
And don’t forget about tarami sue
Or being punched in the face at Trinity Boxing
And realizing it wasn’t that bad
Watching the matrix for the first time
And goodfellas
And being able to see you grow
Into a woman of elegance and class
And the love of God
Which steady and foundational
Void of waves of emotion
And gave me life not just once or for a short while
But every second and for eternity
A healthy body running the streets of New York
And the will to forgive
As Ho’oponopono
rang in my headphones
I love you
I’m sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you
And that sense that I was here to serve
And the love that came from beyond me
Charging me to do just that
Presenting opportunities to do just that
The years in darkness
Seeking oblivion
And suffering
To evolve into someone willing and ready to let it all go
The illusions which made demons of fear
Pushing me towards the precipice of death
And redemption breathing for me
A new and wonderful kind of breath
Being reborn to discover
The imagination that haunted me
Was a springboard
Towards a life of fulfillment
When aligned with God’s will
And of course getting to feed you breakfast
As we prepared for aimless days at the playground
And throwing you in the pool laughing
Led Zeppelin
Charles Bukowski
Bob Dylan and Marvin Gaye
Jaco pastorious and Stanley Clarke
Playing five nights a week
In blues rock dives
For blue collar bikers in Ohio
Nights screaming music’s soul
Into the hearts of the damned
Only pretending to be so
Flowers in the rain
And watching you chase ducks
Into the pond screaming and flapping your arms
Like wings taking flight in your mind
Seeing through the eyes of love
Every vision was a gift wrapped in your face
Calling me daddy
Things I am grateful for
Every meal
Bowls of ice cream
Fasting for weeks
As the body starved and healed
And the endless rejuvenation
Of health restored and the source concealed
Climbing up camelback at dawn
To see the sunrise
Looking across Phoenix
Becoming a Phoenix
Transcending the fires of life
And seeking new skies to take flight
As the hands of demons reached but could not touch me
In the hearts to pull me back down to earth
Every dream
Where new worlds were created and then destroyed from waking
Seeming as real as the world I was running from
And of course the will to stop running all together
And just finally be
In the center of being
Where I realized me the creator were one
As the walls between us disappeared
And taught me that they were never there at all
But constructs of trauma and fear
That was also equally unreal
The soul’s gymnasium blasting hip hop
Gangstarr
And Jimi Hendrix
Singing all along the watchtower
To me on this watch tower
Becoming the witness again
No more than consciousness
Which was nothing and everything
And reading a story to you
Trying to get you to fall asleep
As you would get out of bed
To go get another story for me to read you
Opening the book
And beginning again.
(Filmed by Amelie Chopinet in Marseille)
Josepharthur.com for music and art
The Gratitude List
Things I am grateful for
Jacuzzis in the fall
Foreign women laughing in a distant room
Jumping rope in Times Square
Elephants doing ballet in pink leotards at dawn
And knowing that I get to share my life with you
We jump on God’s palms as he elevates us
To the clouds
Presenting us to a jury of dust laughing
We are judged by none of nothing but eternity
Or the abyss we stare into
As it stares back into us
We expect to be damned or to ascend
But it simply asks
“What were you Grateful for”
Dancing at 3am
Breathwork at dawn
My child putting her shoes on the wrong feet and saying let’s go
Dressing as a princess in a dress with a unicorn
Writing a song for the first time
Writing a song for the hundredth and first time
Singing for the crowd in marseille
And don’t forget about tarami sue
Or being punched in the face at Trinity Boxing
And realizing it wasn’t that bad
Watching the matrix for the first time
And goodfellas
And being able to see you grow
Into a woman of elegance and class
And the love of God
Which steady and foundational
Void of waves of emotion
And gave me life not just once or for a short while
But every second and for eternity
A healthy body running the streets of New York
And the will to forgive
As Ho’oponopono
rang in my headphones
I love you
I’m sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you
And that sense that I was here to serve
And the love that came from beyond me
Charging me to do just that
Presenting opportunities to do just that
The years in darkness
Seeking oblivion
And suffering
To evolve into someone willing and ready to let it all go
The illusions which made demons of fear
Pushing me towards the precipice of death
And redemption breathing for me
A new and wonderful kind of breath
Being reborn to discover
The imagination that haunted me
Was a springboard
Towards a life of fulfillment
When aligned with God’s will
And of course getting to feed you breakfast
As we prepared for aimless days at the playground
And throwing you in the pool laughing
Led Zeppelin
Charles Bukowski
Bob Dylan and Marvin Gaye
Jaco pastorious and Stanley Clarke
Playing five nights a week
In blues rock dives
For blue collar bikers in Ohio
Nights screaming music’s soul
Into the hearts of the damned
Only pretending to be so
Flowers in the rain
And watching you chase ducks
Into the pond screaming and flapping your arms
Like wings taking flight in your mind
Seeing through the eyes of love
Every vision was a gift wrapped in your face
Calling me daddy
Things I am grateful for
Every meal
Bowls of ice cream
Fasting for weeks
As the body starved and healed
And the endless rejuvenation
Of health restored and the source concealed
Climbing up camelback at dawn
To see the sunrise
Looking across Phoenix
Becoming a Phoenix
Transcending the fires of life
And seeking new skies to take flight
As the hands of demons reached but could not touch me
In the hearts to pull me back down to earth
Every dream
Where new worlds were created and then destroyed from waking
Seeming as real as the world I was running from
And of course the will to stop running all together
And just finally be
In the center of being
Where I realized me the creator were one
As the walls between us disappeared
And taught me that they were never there at all
But constructs of trauma and fear
That was also equally unreal
The soul’s gymnasium blasting hip hop
Gangstarr
And Jimi Hendrix
Singing all along the watchtower
To me on this watch tower
Becoming the witness again
No more than consciousness
Which was nothing and everything
And reading a story to you
Trying to get you to fall asleep
As you would get out of bed
To go get another story for me to read you
Opening the book
And beginning again.
(Filmed by Amelie Chopinet in Marseille)
Josepharthur.com for music and art
