The challenge for Na/GloPoWriMo Day 7 is to write a poem about gifts and joy.  Above this challenge was a bit about how poetry can prove quite the therapeutic tool.  I can see this easily from my own life.  From this and my faith, I have written the following poem.

Joy In the Gifts of Hard Times
by Michael Romani

In times of abundance there are reasons
Enough for joy and gifts in all seasons
But, even as I go through despair and agony
There are reasons enough to be thankful for me

Making my way through times of difficulty
The gifts and joy help bring me clarity
Bringing me close to my nature and soul
Grasping at moments in a world spiraling out of control

Today, and each day, is a day to celebrate
Even when a world turned upside down negates
But cause for rejoicing does not depend on circumstance
Nor does it depend on given happenstance

Faith is the key to my hope of blessed salvation
Like holding my daughters' hands in any situation
I find our faith is proven in every difficulty
And so I find joy and gratitude in my loving family

This genuine faith produces our devotion of joy
And I'm sure it's the same for all who find and employ
Faith walks with joy through the gifts of hard times
With each passing moment spent as something sublime

In my little girls, my hope is faithfully kept alive
It's in the support of good friends that I do survive
The gifts given on even my darkest, bleakest days
Allow me to focus on the good in a million ways

It's in this faith that I do find I can believe
And in its proof is that which allows me to conceive
Finding that I know such gifts as faith, joy and love
That such hope makes this earth more like Heaven above

(c)  April 7, 2019  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserved