A four hour drive to the land of steady habits
A glass of wine turns into eight
A late drive through the mountains
We're no longer in the garden state.

A card game spread across the table
Family here and family afar
Songs of Johnny Cash and Willie
A familiar face of a one eyed pup
Cats scattering across the floor
A bed under the teeth of the piano
And Christmas lights on the stairs.

The clock strikes twelve
We're watching a family of raccoons eat their Thanksgiving dinner
While everyone else is asleep.

It's been about a week since the divorce finalized.
Sleep has fled my eyes, and I've wanted to cry
So emotional tension can leave me and let be myself and I.

Is there any other reason to steer clear
Of my co-worker's relationship troubles and fear
While on the outside I smile and pretend to hear
Than to continue being friendly over a beer?

At least I've got a financial break.
I've got a lot of money to make
Waiting tables for five days. It can take
A lot out of me, but it's worth the physical pain at stake.
My knees are sore, and my feet might break
From all the walking. And from putting up with all kinds of stupid requests and complaints
It's a wonder I don't get baked.

At the end of the day, I may not thrive,
But I'm lucky I still got a will to survive.
So this Thanksgiving week I didn't crash drive
When I could have, and it makes me glad to be alive.

the turkey stretches his n--e----c-------k
unleashing praises stuffed in his breast
like a rapid-fire machine gun

when the next Thanksgiving
is still far off

i sit across a redwood
familiar strangers
who hear themselves asking how i am
but never hear me answering
i sit behind a redwood
tip tapping feet in the shadow
they want to tip tap on out
i sit beside redwoods
others with their own familiar strangers
who hear themselves asking how they are
but never hear them answering
strange how we bond over
the fact that no one
is bonding
happy thanksgiving to my
unfamiliar kin
here’s to another year of
never being thankful until
we feel guilty
about it.

i wonder if
what i do or
don’t do
will change the way you
think of me
look at me
feel about me
why do i have such
a tendency to feel
lonely only when i’m
not alone?
i’m thankful for so much
but not much at all
is thankful
for me.

Ah, it's that time of year!
Where we sit with relatives and friends,
Those we may or may not know.
We should all be thankful for something.
At least 1, maybe 2 things.
So.
What am I thankful for?
I'm thankful for God, art...
And the family I share no blood with.
The reason I'm here.

Thank you.

To everyone who has spurn,
to every hater who has made me learn,
to every despot who in hell will burn,
thank you.

To my desires, which I yearn,
to the men and women who barely earn,
to everyone whose lives have taken a downturn,
thank you.

For persisting in night and day,
for keeping this land free, I have to say,
that life isn't fair, you will sometimes go astray,
but the best thing to do is to work and stay.