I Am Grateful For Traffic

I am grateful for traffic because it means I have somewhere to go.
I am grateful for rent because it means I have a place to sleep.
I am grateful for deadlines and staff meetings because it means I have a job.
For copays at the doctor’s office because it means I have health insurance.
For waiting in line at Dunkin Donuts, because it means I have five bucks to indulge.
For sweaters that have a hole because it means I wore them well.
For yellowed pictures and stains on scrapbooks because I have enough memories to fill them.
For a grave to visit because it means I loved someone, once.
For being angry at him because it means I am bleeding and that means scabbing, soon.
For my ex-boyfriend who swears I am the reason, because I am nobody’s reason.
For the weak crack in my ankle, because it means I ran until I broke, once.
For the boy who told me I was ugly and my breasts were too large, because now I don’t care.
For not being that skinny, because I fought to love love handles.
For that time I screamed at my boyfriend in a parking garage, because I love him enough to scream.
For the day I tripped on a dock and fell into the Emergency Room for stitches, because I couldn’t walk and therefore I had to sit.
For not having cable while I grew up, because now I read more books than I watch TV.
For the girls who don’t invite me to parties, because I am a woman who doesn’t need parties.
For the rejection letter because it means I didn’t get the wrong job.
For the Catholic school that I didn’t want to believe in, because now I have a blue bead rosary.
For the time I spelled a name wrong in a newspaper, because now I spell it out slow.
For the desk I found by the dumpster, because God said, “You must write.”
For cutting myself while shaving because I have a shower to shave in.
For being white because white privilege.
For Arbolito, Ecuador, because now that I have seen homes made with dirt and trash, I know how to love a home with end tables and refrigerators.
For watching a child play soccer on cement with two shoes that didn’t match, because now I know that I am grateful for traffic.