(with apologies to Doctor Seuss)
“He’s gone, he’s gone,”
said my dad with a frown.
“The day will be ruined,
We will never rebound.”
From the chill in his voice
We knew he was right.
The day would be ruined
For Tom Turkey took flight.
“He was there in the morning
When I fed him corn meal
So the breast would be plump
And the taste would appeal
To all who would gather
For a time gay and merry
To feast on the stuffing
And the tartest cranberry.
But now what shall we do?”
He said with a fright.
“For the day will be ruined
For Tom Turkey took flight.
The family had gathered
And sought to discover
How we might save the day
With a plan to recover
From this horrible day
Filled with grief and distress
What to do next
Was anyone’s guess.
“Spaghetti’s the answer ,”
Said my mom with resolve
“I’ll serve it al dente
With my famous meatballs.”
“It won’t work” said my brother
With fiendish sarcasm.
“The pilgrims would grimace
For they were not Italian.”
“Then how about pork chops?”
Said sister in voice ever so sweet.
“No one will take notice
It’s the other white meat.”
“You’ll not fool the guests.”
Replied my brother so quick.
“They’ll know something’s wrong
When they see no drumstick.”
“I’ve got it,” said Auntie
With her usual finesse
“We’ll get through this together
It will be all for the best.
We’ll be one with the turkeys
As true egalitarians.
We’ll gather at table
As staunch vegetarians.”
And so we gave in
To one more of her scams.
And feasted on corn bread
And turnips and yams.
The squash was delicious.
As was the corn on the cob.
We even had parsnips
And broccoli rabe.
With dessert came ambrosia
And pecan pie so sweet
We thought we had conquered
This day of defeat
When Tom Turkey took flight
And left us to ponder
How to cope with this scene
Of our holiday drama.
But when dinner was over
No one was surprised
We were all quite unhappy
With this planned we devised
To forego roast turkey
The effort was all in vain
For no one could nap
Without tryptophan.
No comments:
Post a Comment