I Give Thanks

I call the form of poem below a triptych. I have no idea if it has ever been tried before. Each column should be read as an independent stanza first, but each deals with the same subject from a differing point of view. The poem should make at least some sense also when read across, but “hearing” each line in a different “voice.” If it were to be performed, it would be read by three people, perhaps kneeling, but at least with heads bowed, speaking in unison the title and last line, but otherwise each would speak his or her stanza reading across, so Reader One would say “Because I can see” followed by Reader Two saying “Because I see poorly,” and so forth. At the end, after individually saying “I thank Thee, Lord, they would together raise their heads, look toward heaven and possibly raise hands, and speak in unison “Yes, I thank Thee Lord.”

I       G    I    V    E        T    H    A    N    K    S

Because I can see            Because I see poorly    Because I cannot see
I thank Thee, Lord,            I thank Thee, Lord        I thank Thee, Lord,
For love and beauty,          For light and shadow,   For touch and taste,
For glory in sky and cloud, For sound and silence  For fragrance and thought
In beast and flow’r,           In speech and laughter,   In all imagination
For depth of art                For depth of music,         For depth of feeling,
And the grace of dance:   And the dance within me:  And the dance of life:

Because I can see            Because I see poorly    Because I cannot see
I thank Thee, Lord,            I thank Thee, Lord        I thank Thee, Lord,

Y  e  s,     I     t  h  a  n  k     T  h  e  e,     L  o  r  d  !