Stuffing the bird
Stirring the pot
Sprinkling the salt
Polishing the spoons
Rolling the crust
Spreading the cloth
Greeting the guests
                                                                                              Scraping the plates
White privilege and mashed potatoes
Have a way of weighing us down.
Bitter words like
indigenous                   genocide                     Thanksgrieving
had slowly replaced the sweet and savory in our November feast
Until one year we took a pilgrimage to Plymouth Rock
to bear witness with the Wampanoag
who had declared it a National Day of Mourning
like Tisha b’Av
They spoke of trespass—not gravy recipes
of atrocity—not football games
[no-glossary]Get[/no-glossary] to know the tribe whose land you are on.
Tear up those silly Pilgrim hats.
Reject the Pilgrim platitudes.
Transcend the cheesy gratitudes.
Redeem the Day.
