Thanksgiving

The First Thanksgiving,
reproduction of an oil painting 
by J.L.G. Ferris, early 20th century.

Pilgrims who risked life and limb
to reach our shore
then buried so many of their number
before things took a turn
for the better might be baffled
by what Thanksgiving has become.
I like to think they could see beyond 
football, parades,more food
than anyone should try and eat at one sitting,
jumpstart on Black Friday,
see the way families pull together
as if joined by one stubborn string, 
arranged in a pleasant school diorama
around a common table with
laughing conversation remembering
the time a cousin did this or that,
or wishing aloud for the presence of 
a missing loved one. Underneath
all else, same love of freedom
and family, same gratitude for
food and friends, beats within our breasts
recalling Pilgrim's fire.

(c) Ellen Gillette, 2012