Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving for Two; a poem by Marjorie Saiser

Some of us are sitting down with our family members today, and some Reds and readers are having a much smaller celebration. Whether your Thanksgiving is for two or twenty, we wish you all the blessings of the season.

 


Thanksgiving for Two
by Marjorie Saiser

The adults we call our children will not be arriving
with their children in tow for Thanksgiving.
We must make our feast ourselves,

slice our half-ham, indulge, fill our plates,
potatoes and green beans
carried to our table near the window.

We are the feast, plenty of years,
arguments. I’m thinking the whole bundle of it
rolls out like a white tablecloth. We wanted

to be good company for one another.
Little did we know that first picnic
how this would go. Your hair was thick,

mine long and easy; we climbed a bluff
to look over a storybook plain. We chose
our spot as high as we could, to see

the river and the checkerboard fields.
What we didn’t see was this day, in
our pajamas if we want to,

wrinkled hands strong, wine
in juice glasses, toasting
whatever’s next,

the decades of side-by-side,
our great good luck.
 
Poem copyright ©2014 by Marjorie Saiser

21 comments:

  1. So much to be thankful for . . . Happy Thanksgiving!

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  2. What a lovely poem. We are gathering tomorrow instead of today, so today will be a quiet one of reading, pie baking, and reflecting on how much I have to be thankful for. Including this blog community!

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  3. that's a lovely poem, thanks Julia! Grateful for all my Jungle Red friends! xo

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  4. Love you all so much…incredibly grateful, today and all.

    xx

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  5. What a fabulous poem. There will actually by 10 of us around the table so I'm really thankful for family but I'm sending special greetings to those whose celebration will be smaller and quiet. And love to my Jungle Red family.

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  6. I just fell in love with that poem when I read it. I have to admit, there are times I think her description would be a perfect Thanksgiving! (Can you tell I'm getting impatient for an empty nest?)

    Happy Thanksgiving to you all, dear friends and readers!

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  7. This blog needs a 'like' button--oh wait, we're good with words--I second all of your comments--a Happy Thanksgiving to all and sincere gratitude for the JRW family!

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  8. I am thankful for the Reds, all of your words and books that have carried me over the years.
    BTW, I waved at Big Bird (on the TV) when the float went by.
    Atlanta avid reader

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  9. Love the poem - and I'm with my daughters and granddaughter, so it's particularly apt.

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  10. Love the poem, and I'm so thankful for this blog, a part of my daily routine now, all the fabulous Reds authors, all the participants/commenters, and all the new authors I've met through this favorite blog. Everyone here enriches my life in so many ways. And, of course, the countless hours of pleasure I've had reading books by the Reds authors. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

    Oh, Susan, I guess I got up too late to see Noel as Big Bird, and I so wanted to see him. If you have a video of it, it would be such a treat if you could post it here or on FB. I love telling my family and friends about your famous puppeteer!

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  11. That is sweet. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Big celebration this year (14 people) and two in our hearts.

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  12. Happy Thanksgiving! So grateful for so many things, including my dear REDs and all our readers.

    I saw Big Bird! (Then went to sleep on the sofa for an hour before heading back to the cooking.)

    Adore the poem, Julia.

    We'll be celebrating with daughter and son-in-law and friends, and we are especially thankful for our little granddaughter to be!

    love you all.

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  13. Sharing cooking duties with my husband of 41+ years...family spread all over the world...listened to "Alice's Restaurant"...enjoying our holiday...thankful for much.

    I can't tell you how much I love the Reds although I don't post as often as I should. You are each a remarkable woman and I appreciate you all so much. (Not sure if that grammar is correct but I've had wine.) :-)

    Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

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  14. Debs, I hadn't heard about the grandchild-to-be. Congratulations!!!

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  15. Thank you for posting this, Julia. Happy Thanksgiving, all...be you one, two or many.

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  16. Lovely poem Marjorie Saiser, thank you for sharing

    Wishing everyone a Very Happy, Blessed Thanksgiving

    Mar

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  17. It is a lovely poem . . . but instead of just two, today there were twenty of us around the table. Even though several family members were far away and couldn't join us [mostly they are serving in the military and are required to be on duty], we celebrated a lovely holiday with our family.
    We have so much to be thankful for . . . I am particularly thankful for the Jungle Red Writers and those who regularly post here. This is a special family, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the conversations that take place here . . . .
    I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving [and I got to see Noel . . . well, I saw Big Bird waving . . . in the parade!].

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  18. The forty-first Thanksgiving since we were married ... and our first "Thanksgiving for two." Thank you for the gift of this lovely poem.

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