I had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year, and it has given me the opportunity to ruminate further on the spirit of Thanksgiving. This is a holiday rich with tradition and history, even though it may often be overlooked by many as a mere family gathering every November. This prompted me to produce another ABAB poem in honor of the story of the first Thanksgiving and the meaning carried with this very special occasion. I hope you enjoy!
From Famine to Feast, and Back Again
Setting forth into lands unknown
Promise and warning abound
The frontier beckons weary bones
Fortune and famine to be found
Eager to prove our worth and thrive
We take on the world and meet our match
The lands push back on our will to survive
Testing our mettle with each dispatch

Hunger scrapes at the mind
Frost bites at the soul
Nature can be unkind
Its beauty and cruelty one whole
Hostiles be both man and beast
All eager for the taste of flesh
To make our own their bloody feast
Our spirits they set to gnaw and thresh

Yet hope is never lost
Nor is it ever far
Amid the pain and ceaseless frost
We must keep sense of who we are
Amid the swirl of chaos and strife
We look to our friends both new and old
We stand together and breathe new life
To rise up as one into an age of gold

Together we learn and grow
Facing the threats of the frontier
Sharing knowledge and wisdom alone untold
Bringing about new love and cheer
A Thanksgiving Day to celebrate each year
A harvest long coming to sink winter's chill
And a feast of friendship rather than fear
Brings people together for good and not ill

Yet as we return to uncertain days
Time and time again as struggle reigns
We give thanks for the blessings our way
We give thanks even for our growing pains
I hope you all had a momentous Thanksgiving day last week, wherever you were and whomever you were with.

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