"Gratitude Comes in Twos"

Paint Chip Poetry #03: April 3, 2025

“Gratitude Comes in Twos”

I am grateful to be here—
to walk the pavement to the beat of the song I'm listening to,
to jump head first into the deep end of the city's public pool.
to look up on early mornings and latch onto clear blue skies,
to stare across cafe tables into a pair of thoughtful green eyes.
to push boundaries and feel the rush of the A Train passing,
to fly low like the night owl and chase concert halls, thrashing.
to cross streets without looking and rivers without pushing,
to learn my neighbor's first name and hope he loves my cooking.

I am grateful to be back home too—
to ride shotgun in a 1990 Jeep Grand Cherokee,
to race wildly down dirt roads and temporarily lose my sanity.
to run barefoot through the rushing rainstorm that is you,
to listen quietly, piously to the pitter-patter on the tin roof. 
to fall madly, gladly in love beneath the wonderful wisteria,
to read pulsing, engrossing poetry in Shakespeare's Illyria.
to grow young and die old in that beloved mountain town,
to see lillies of the valley growing by my father's grave, in the ground. 

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Prompt & Paint Chips from April 3, 2025

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What is Paint Chip Poetry?

While browsing an art supply store recently, I came across a small game box filled with small paint chips and prompts—simple building blocks with which to create infinite poems and colorful sequences.

I’ve always adored poetry but never felt particularly adept at writing it. This year, I’d like to try and get better. With it being National Poetry Month, I thought it would be a fun writing challenge to use this game box as inspiration to write a brand new poem every day for the entire month of April.

The Rules

1. I must choose a prompt and four-to-eight paint chips at random. I get a single opportunity to re-draw a sample if I’m not feeling it, but that’s it. Just one. However, I can redraw if I get a repeat.

2. I must write a poem using the prompt and all of the paint chip words/phrases within the text of the poem. They must be bolded and italicized.

3. I must post the poem each day to Substack & include a photo of the paint chips in every post.

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