00:01
before the animal sanctuary where I
00:04
hugged a turkey feathered angel nuzzling
00:07
under my chin before I knew turkeys love
00:11
to be hugged before I was old enough to
00:14
volunteer to serve meals at the church
00:17
before I heard the preacher’s wife scold
00:19
a man without a home for not being
00:22
grateful enough before I was queer
00:25
enough to notice my name left out of a
00:28
prayer before I got the scoop on what
00:31
really happened at Plymouth Rock before
00:34
I learned the word genocide before I
00:37
knew enough to be devastated that I’d
00:40
once asked my friend how her family
00:43
celebrated Thanksgiving on the
00:45
reservation before we marched the
00:48
streets closed before I held hands with
00:51
a crying five-year-old running from riot
00:53
cops throwing tear gas before we shut
00:56
down the parade anyway
00:58
carrying signs that said thanks taking
01:02
it was my favorite holiday I cut paper
01:05
bags into pilgrim clothes and put on
01:08
Mayflower living room shows I grabbed
01:11
the wishbone with both hands and won the
01:14
wish every year I ate potatoes my
01:17
favorite from morning until midnight I
01:20
don’t remember
01:21
another day my family was so happy my
01:25
mother could still stand on her head
01:27
back then and I’d laughed the stuffing
01:30
out of my nose her feet shooting to the
01:32
sky like a toy arrow her face red as a
01:36
bee I hated beets and never had to eat
01:39
them on Thanksgiving it was the best day
01:42
I was thinking last summer roasting
01:46
marshmallows with my parents and the
01:48
backyard of my home the flames like arms
01:51
reaching to beckon us closer to each
01:54
other when my mother casually like it
01:57
was nothing said her father who I knew
02:00
she had loved more than life who I knew
02:04
had died when she was still a kid had
02:07
died on Thanksgiving a fact I’d never
02:10
known all those years what I’d called
02:13
the best day had been the end
02:15
bursaries of her very worst day my god I
02:19
thought how many times did she sneak
02:22
into her bedroom to take his photo out
02:24
of the drawer
02:25
how many times did she try to catch her
02:27
reflection in the window to make sure
02:30
her mascara wasn’t bleeding down her
02:33
cheeks
02:33
have I ever sense and will I ever again
02:36
know a generosity so wide as her smile
02:40
all those years how wildly she clapped
02:43
for my joy that whole slaughter of a day
02:47
a day she gave to me her tiny pilgrim
02:51
giddy with having no idea what I had to
02:56
be grateful for
◊♦◊
Have you read the original anthology that was the catalyst for The Good Men Project? Buy here: The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood
◊♦◊
Talk to you soon.
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