Poem: Paradox Lake - Thanksgiving 1972






Corny: "I haven't used real butter
In years

Only eat this fake crap now the
Colorful plastic tub

Slather it on the baked potatoes 
All you like

Won't hurt you none" as a left eye 
Twitched some

His gleaming mouth, 
greasy rictus 

His wife Jo either laughed  
Or sneezed

The family mutt stared 
Up at me 

A faint growl hissing
Bared incisors

Really only concerned for 
My Alma and 

The kids, this being Thanksgiving  
And all

Me only caring to deliver 
To and from

A dementedly safe family feast
But late in  

The afternoon we'd hit some 
awful, icy 

Weather on the way upstate to  
Uncle Skippy's 

And spun the Jeep into 
A steep ditch. 

Corny was nice enough to invite us 
To his place

Wife's got turkey on the table you're 
Welcome, join us 

It seemed our host was the lone tow 
Truck driver 

In Paradox Lake, he'd explained,
There wouldn't 

Be anybody around to fix 
The vehicle

Till near Saturday and I a 
Little hesitant 

To accept his hospitality until 
He argued

"Hell,  man
Where else you gonna go?"


© 2017 Michael Jones

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