Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

Dawn
The coldest morning so far this season
Across the valley directly east the Dome is silhouetted by a band of bright orange sky
Joli, my morning companion these many years trots jauntily up our block at my side
As the sky turns pink, the crisp air fills with thousands of crows

A light is on in our neighbor's kitchen
She's up early working on another festive family meal
I recall the many years my mother would rise at dawn to put the turkey in the oven
Her preferred way to express her love for her family

Last night near midnight I was wakened by the sound of heavy equipment
City workers removing the piles of leaves the neighbors have been stockpiling
I know as I drift back to sleep the season is turning inexorably to winter
Now the snow can come

I miss those long ago childhood Thanksgivings
My brothers and I no longer gather, now that our parents have passed on
I'm sure they will be reminded too, as they sit down today
We give thanks for what we have and what we have become


No comments:

Post a Comment