Trees yawn. Outdoor colors fade.
Wind cools short days.
Leaves skip and dance, filling corners
with secrets.
A gust sends them tittering
like giggling school girls excited
about tomorrow night’s party.

Family and friends gather.
Hands join, heads bow
around sacrificial bird stuffed
with hopes and dreams for another year.

Thanks are given for food on plates
and warm homes.
Thanks for nature’s bounty.
Thanks for peace in our country.
Thanks for a day to remember love
that surrounds us.
Thanks, simply, for the magical gift of life.

Winter prepares to blanket sleepy earth.
Cold fingers nudge into night.