Where does gratitude reside?

I wrote this haunted by some of the poetry that the Chinese Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu wrote in his old age. He lived a life of wealth, then poverty; power, then powerlessness and hunger. Yet his poem retained sweetness.

Grasping, I never had.

Climbing, I tripped on every rung.

Once I grew old and stretched out an empty hand.

I was continually amazed at how full my heart had become.

Honor, loyalty, friendship wonder, and love are never grasped in the hand.

Because they reside in the heart and flow through one’s veins.

The residue that they leave behind is that of gratitude.

Sadness also has a place in the heart,

But gratitude crowds it out.

Yearning for the past doesn’t fill your hand or your heart,

Unless memory generates the gratitude to crowd it out.

Conflict can whistle like a wind all around you,

But gratitude will crowd it out.

And by cultivating what is best, gratitude will reside.

Gratitude improves your vision

To see what truly is to hold.