The Day After

     By the big white gravy ladle

Sits the plate of sliced-up turkey

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving turkey

Steaming on the silver platter,

platter that's been used forever- 

Grandpa's mother's silver platter-

Golden drumsticks rising skyward

Boldly carved by Uncle Willis

Served along with acorn squash and 

Massive mounds of mashed potatoes

Holding little lakes of gravy,

Grandma’s favorite oyster dressing,

Onions, brocc’li, mushroom stuffing -

Mom’s Shitake mushroom stuffing,

Mushroom stuffing that’s to die for -

Beans of green sautéed with shallots,

Cranb’ry sauce and bread with butter,

Cheddar cheese and pies of apple,

Quince or pumpkin, followed by some

coffee, scotch or port.

      Now the turkey’s cut to pieces,

White and dark meat’s on the platter,

laid out neatly on the platter,

Oyster dressing's nearly finished,

pies are sitting on the sideboard

Stuffing’s in the Rubbermaid and

Boiling on the stove’s the carcass -

turkey soup that’s now in progress.

Almost everyone agrees that

Yet to come’s the greatest treasure:

Soup or sandwich, what’s left over

Constitutes the highest pleasure.