Thursday, November 26, 2015



THANKSGIVING SONNETS

I

To Thanksgiving

This holiday is often overlooked
One feels, because it doesn’t generate
The flow of cash, the airlines overbooked,
Hysteria at fear of being late.
A humble, homey, family-style affair,
No supernatural glamour European
Kicks Concupiscence awake to dare
Sobriety to drink and make a scene.
Giving thanks for what one has is not 
In fashion in this Age of Gimmemore.
Virtue, quaintly comical, has got
Inhibited. It fears to be a bore.
Nothing satisfies, however wild, like
Giving thanks for home in manner childlike.

FT ~ The Sandpiper, Autumn, 1994



II
I have no words of praise and thanks today
That would suffice to even make a start,
But only empty hands, a quiet heart,
A joyful debt that I cannot repay.
The dry and empty cup can truly say
The measure of its need; now not in part
But wholly filled with light and love, what art
Of song or verse can praise enough, this day?
O Morning Star! If any word is true,
It points to you, the end of all desire,
And draws its truth from you, the hidden place
That all will find who seek. This gift from you
I’ll praise with words you give: through dark and fire
I’ll sing and pray with coinherent grace.
~ Holly Ordway


III

Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,
Just to have made it through another year
With everyone still breathing. But we share
So much beyond the outer roads we travel;
Our interweavings on a deeper level,
The modes of life that souls alone can share,
The unguessed blessings of our being here,
The warp and weft that no one can unravel.
So I give thanks for our deep coinherence
Inwoven in the web of Gods own grace,
Pulling us through the grave and gate of death.
I thank him for the truth behind appearance,
I thank him for his light in every face,
I thank him for you all, with every breath
~ Malcolm Quite


IV
On Thanksgiving

Of all events parading through the year
Not one can to this humble feast compare.
To feel or offer thanks today is rare ––
However well our lives remain in gear.

As ease became the norm, we soon forgot 
None of Plymouth’s Pilgrims felt regret. 
Knowing death and cruel privation’s threat
Spoiled not their faith, or made them curse their lot.

Given much yet now we seem to crave
Immeasurable bounty we don’t need ––
Voluptuous excess revealing Greed ––
Indifference to the noble, fine and brave.

No pilgrim, pioneer or great tycoon
Grew up as a self-indulgent goon.

~ FreeThinke - 11/24/11


V
The turkey’s found its silence. So have we
The youngsters and the elders of this hall
Who welcome back both staid and prodigal
With equal eyes. Each knows his own degree

Of happiness on any other day
But this when neural tides must flood or fall
To reach the level common to us all
And flagrant colors fade to neutral gray

The room’s a simple basin of the sea
We yearly swim. Here lies the quiet bay
Where no one claims the single right of way,
Where each is bound to set the other free.

The beaches of this cordial shore forestall
The breakers dimly heard beyond our wall.

~ Lewis Putnam Turco (2010)


VI
On Giving Thanks

Once upon a time, we knew that life
Never guarantees us anything,
Given that, why not just plunge a knife
Into your heart? No form of nannying
Vitiates vicissitude, and yet
Imagination hopes to set aside
Natural Law which says w’re all in debt.
God, the Source of Life, can just provide
The chance to be whatever we can be.
Happiness is found along the way ––
Achieving what we can with Charity.
No panacea can this truth gainsay.
Kings and Vassals –– equal in God’s sight ––
Should each give thanks as they fight the good fight. 

FT ~ The Sandpiper ~ Autumn, 1996


14 comments:

  1. In the 21st Century, it is very difficult to make the following true:

    The beaches of this cordial shore forestall
    The breakers dimly heard beyond our wall.


    I hope that my damn phone doesn't ring during dinner today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UNASKED FOR ADVICE

      If phone calls thou canst abide,
      Do no take thy phone inside.
      Keep distractions from thee far
      LEAVE the DAMNED THING in the CAR!


      ~ Ima Nimp

      Delete
    2. If only, I could LEAVE the DAMNED THING in the CAR!

      Alas! I have to reachable -- if only because another homeschool mom might bring me another pie. Homemade pumpkin pie arrived yesterday. And someone may come in here to check on Mysti while we're out today.

      Delete
    3. BUT...

      I can put the phone on vibrate so that it won't ring!

      Delete
  2. I think that you've captured Thanksgiving's quintessence, FT. If only the rest of us could.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Thersites. Possibly the kindest, moist appreciative thing anyone has said to me in years. We don't work to win applause, but if it comes, we're always grateful.

      As the folk are wont to say,
      Bless you, sir, you've made my day!
      ;-)

      Delete
  3. Happy Thanksgiving.

    Here's a Turkey with a foul smell and taste: Serena Shim, American journalist mysterious death ...

    Funny haven't heard about this from CNN or FoxNews,no?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice verse! and I love the old Norman Rockwells.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF,
      Must agree about those Rockwells!

      Delete
    2. I remember very well when "Saying Grace" first came out on the cover of the old Saturday Evening Post –– may it rest in pease.

      I was still very young, but the image is so powerful it touched me right away, even then, and has stayed with me ever since.

      After all these years I still think Saying Grace may be one of the greatest paintings ever produced by an American artist.

      This show of sweet naivetĂ© not being afraid, ashamed or embarrassed to affirm our faith in the most unlikely,–– possibly hostile ––, surroundings does more to rekindle devotion to the Love that is Christ than much of the prideful pomp and circumstance that often attends formal worship in the stony echoing vaults of great cathedrals.

      Delete
    3. Edgarina Aileen Poetaster said

      “Pride is holding your head up high when everyone around
      you has theirs bowed. Courage is what makes you do it.”

      - Bryce Courtenay, "The Power of One."

      Delete
  5. __ SUMMATION ___

    Thank God for family.

    Thank God for friends.
    
Thank God for life,
    
Even in strife.



    What a pity it ends

    As we're following trends
    
Before we could hope 

    To start making amends!

    

Live and let live,
    
And above all forgive.

    ReplyDelete

IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING, YOU DON'T BELONG HERE, SO KINDLY GET OUT AND STAY OUT.

We welcome Conversation
But without Vituperation.
If your aim is Vilification ––
Other forms of Denigration ––
Unfounded Accusation --
Determined Obfuscation ––
Alienation with Self-Justification ––
We WILL use COMMENT ERADICATION.


IN ADDITION

Gratuitous Displays of Extraneous Knowledge Offered Not To Shed Light Or Enhance the Discussion, But For The Primary Purpose Of Giving An Impression Of Superiority are obnoxiously SELF-AGGRANDIZING, and therefore, Subject to Removal at the Discretion of the Censor-in-Residence.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.