A Perfect Day: a Thanksgiving haibun

It is a warm day for November. The sun is shining, and white clouds hang suspended in the blue sky. The air is crisp and tart. Pots of orange and yellow spider mums line the steps leading up to my mother’s house. The front door is open, and bright light reflects off the large beveled glass mirror hanging above the buffet. It is a perfect day.
                       
Angelus
a congregation of sparrows
circle the bell tower
 
 
Mom is in the kitchen basting. The drippings sizzle as she overshoots the turkey. Eugene and George are in the living room watching football. Joshua toddles from the candy dish to the paisley chair, leaving chocolate smudges on GG’s new favorite purse. I am busy setting the table with the good china. My pumpkin pies sit on the buffet, warm and fragrant. There is nary a crack in the orange glossy-speckled filling. It is a perfect day.
 
centerpiece
the old pilgrim
missing a buckle
 
 
The table is loaded to the point of sagging with turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and GG’s special canned-shrimp cocktail. I reach for my pies, my beautiful perfect pies, my Better Homes and Garden’s perfect pies. But my joy turns to horror as I see two lumpy ditches where the pumpkin used to be. I look at my son, and in a moment of divine inspiration, grab the Reddi-Wip. I twist off the cap, give it a shake, press my finger against the nozzle, and proceed to smother the tops of my pies. It is a perfect day.
 
covering up
the family secrets
sticky fingers



Fredericksburg Literary & Art Review / Winter 2019

Are you worried today? Are you depressed, unhappy, alone? Are you hurting? Do you feel like giving up?

Don't!

You are loved!!

Jesus came to give you hope!!! He came to give you life, abundant, pressed down, shaken together, running over life. Do you know what that is? Can you even imagine?

Just open the door...

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.  Revelation 3:20 (NASB)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16 (NIV)



Hopefully,

​Susan