Thanksgiving 2016

Today I am working on simplicity. An apple,
a banana, a handful of almonds
for breakfast. An email letter to a friend
traveling in Europe. Small cups of hot water
to soothe my aging guts. I will try not
to talk politics when my father
serves us the dead bird. I will try not
to disappoint my mother when I skip
her dry pumpkin pie. I will try not to forget
the hundreds of water protectors standing
in sub-freezing temperatures in
North Dakota, pelted with water cannons
and rubber bullets by a government
I am finding it harder and harder every day
to recognize. My brother in Alabama,
a traveler in the heart of Make America Great Again
country, texted me Happy Thanksgiving
with a bearded, animated image of himself
waving hello from inside a cornucopia.
Why not? Joy and hurt are plentiful.