Sitting here I
Realized that I
Don’t want to
Be famous I
Just want my
Words to come
Ashore as softly
As the tides
As delicately as
Summer breezes amidst
Wildflowers and like
Those crisp overnight
Snowfalls that tickle
Dogs and sledders
Quietly purely simply
My best memory
Of Thanksgiving Day
Was so long
Ago and so
Simple that I’m
Surprised I remember
My mother sent
Me to the
Store to buy
Milk swaddled in
Heavy coat and
Cap I crossed
The playground and
Heard laughter and
Saw families gathering
Like swarms of
Bumblebees hugging golden
Sunflowers and then
As if by
Magic heaven itself
Shed its manna
And the lightest
Of snow began
To fall and
This is what
Thanksgiving means to
Me Happy Thanksgiving
The most important
Thing to remember
Is to say
What you mean
Today today today
Not tomorrow or
Regret having never
Said it ever
So as you
Read this turn
To the person
Next to you
And simply say
I may not
Know you but
Someone else does
And you mean
More to them
Than you know
And them you
Sometimes we tend
To parse things
Out in order
To understand them
Like a present
Isn’t really a
Surprise it’s simply
A thing a
Box some paper
Tape and ribbon
Same as love
When we autopsy
It we discover
It’s flaws but
Once it’s gone
We miss the
Whole of it
We haven’t even
Talked in five
Years and I
Can’t remember what
Your voice sounds
Like even though
Your voice was
The only voice
I knew for
Thirty years I
Know where you
Are and that
You’re happier without
Me there but
I miss you
When you’re gone
Much more when
You will be
Goner gone than
You are today
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 