My favorite blog did a post on memorizing poems and I really loved it. The poem they posted, about gratitude, was simply beautiful. Here it is:

Otherwise
by Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.

At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

In the blog post, she also describes memorizing poems as investing in “mental furniture.” This way you always have those words as furniture in your head for thoughts to sit on, even in old age. 

Do you have a favorite poem?