I Will, A Thanksgiving Poem

by Jennifer
(Jesup, Georgia, USA)

I was almost thirty before I had to cook my first Thanksgiving dinner. Until then my sole contribution to the festivities was to stir what my Mom told me to stir and to carry platters of food to the table (we won't mention the turkey skin snitching, but I am only human). So, I was totally unprepared for the great ballet known as "creating a Thanksgiving feast."

I volunteered to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the entire family to save my Mom the trouble. After all, if she could do it then I could. Mother's daughter and all that (yeah, right).

The shopping wasn't too bad, just had to fight the throng of last-minute shoppers. Grabbed all the fixings and picked out a turkey big enough to feed an army. Just a question: did you know it takes days to thaw a turkey? True!

I remember seeing the turkey sitting in the bottom of the refrigerator but I figured it was there just because of convenience - not because it HAD to be there.

Upon being informed that I had a situation on my hands, I immediately stuck the turkey in a cold water bath to accelerate the thawing process. Finally got it to the non-iceberg state and placed that beautiful hunk of meat into a pan, massaged it down with a generous amount of butter and stuck it into the oven.

Got on the phone to brag to my Mom about how it was all under control when she asked me if I had put the giblets on to cook. "Giblets?"

"Yeah, you know the meat that we put into the stuffing ... they need to start cooking."

Uh oh. I told her that I forgot to buy giblets and the stuffing would be okay without them. She starts laughing and when she catches her breath, explains that I already purchased the giblets. I just needed to retrieve them.

"I've got to stick my hand in WHERE?"

I will let your imagination take care of the rest. Happy Thanksgiving!

I Will, A Thanksgiving Poem

I will eat turkey, yams, and green beans.
I don't have to be able to button my jeans.

I will eat stuffing, some glazed roast pork,
Don't worry, I can handle it, just hand me a fork.

I will eat corn, some gravy, and slaw.
I have to try it all, isn't that a law?

I will eat cranberries, potato salad, and peas,
I will make it, it won't bring me to my knees.

I will eat everything - each and every bit.
No, I can't stand up yet, please just let me sit.

Oh, I ate too much - think I'm gonna die.
Oh, what the heck, pass the pumpkin pie!