A Thanksgiving Tale

By William Heath

It’s a snowy Thanksgiving, roads are slick
on the way to Grandma’s place
for a family reunion.

Upon arrival Ben the cop is directing
traffic because lines are down.
I step out of the car

to fetch the bowl of cranberry sauce
my wife has prepared
just as Uncle Joe’s

SUV skids on ice, whacks my bumper,
the jolt sends me sliding under
the car into a ditch.

Need I say the bowl breaks, spewing
its crimson contents all over
my face and clothes

as the whole family shouts
and cries to see my bloody
body in the snowy ditch.

The cop rushes to the scene of the crash,
only to also slip into the ditch
and smack into my side

while I’m still in a daze from my fall.
“What the fuck!” I say as everyone
laughs at my return to normal,

except for Ben, muttering in bafflement,
“What is this shit?” So I steady
him to his feet and explain,

“It’s cranberry sauce, Ben.
Happy Thanksgiving.”