A PROMPT RESPONSE IN SONG AND LIMERICK

Can A Turkey Carry A Tune?

Plethora of Pop’s thanks / giving writing challenge

A Thanksgiving song? I’ve got bugger all for this prompt. But that’s not the end of this article; I will drive a steak knife through this bird and raise a toast before hitting ‘Submit’.

Does the NFL theme song count? Because that’s the first song that has ear wormed into my brain.

I rarely hear the song anymore, but the memories and tune remain strong. I’ve tried once or twice to bring American football into the Thanksgiving tradition down here and recreate the atmosphere.

Still, no Thanksgiving songs come to mind. They’ve decked Christmas out with an endless playlist of cheesy songs that would make a crudely positioned Elf on the Shelf release his phallic candy cane and cover his ears.

But Thanksgiving?

While the holiday conjures up memories of family gatherings, football, deep fryers in bathtubs, that first sip of eggnog to kick off the festive season, there is not a song that makes me think, ‘Thanksgiving’.

Maybe the Peanuts theme song. It was the background tune of all those seasonal Peanut animated TV shows and there was that one scene that I still think of when I think of Thanksgiving.

While there are a lifetime of memories and images of Thanksgiving, there is no Thanksgiving song for me.

Thanksgiving is different to all those Thursdays spent with family in the U.S., but the tradition is growing — both in popularity and in numbers — with my family here in Australia.

While I’ve dropped gridiron from the Thanksgiving repertoire, we still serve turkey with all the fixings, including pumpkin — both as a savoury dish and a sweet dessert.

Even the glazed sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top get requested, though they still ask, “Why are there marshmallows on the sweet potatoes?”

Thanksgiving is also forever different in another way from this year onward. With mom’s passing, the tradition changes again but I will celebrate Thanksgiving here, surrounded by family and friends — truly grateful for life and the celebration.

A good friend here on Medium, Pierce McIntyre, tagged me in a prompt. A prompt for Thanksgiving songs, but the songs aren’t limited to a particular Thursday. They can be songs of thanks or of giving.

When I think of a song of thanks, I always hear Louis in my ear. To me, nothing could say thank you to everyone and everything in life more than thinking to myself, what a wonderful world.

When Pierce tagged me, he also looked upon me for a toast (my interpretation anyway) and when the host kindly asks you for a toast at the dinner table, you don’t decline.

I raise my glass to toast you, mom. Thank you.

And I raise my glass to my partner, my family, my friends and all of my friends here who read and write and carry on.

Cheers

I raise a toast to the holiday, Thanksgiving Give thanks for the departed and the living A time for thanks With Aussies and Yanks A time to be grateful and giving

To me, Louis Armstrong says it all In his deep, rich New Orleans drawl I’m entirely grateful With every plateful Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving Y’all

Next week, so many of us will sit around a dinner table, celebrating Thanksgiving, but once that’s done and Black Friday goes away, play this song, for Christmas is coming.

Thanks for reading. Here’s a previous ode to Thanksgiving, thanks to a prompt from Penelope Mayfield, who seems to have left Medium (for now).

As this is a prompt and because I’ve never written here at Plethora of Pop, I thought I’d tag a few people who I know enjoy poetry, music and writing (that should just about cover everyone, yeah? 😎)

Australian Alien, Dave Logan, Susan Alison, Mary DeVries, Rodney Brazier, Christopher Robin, Squeeze the Avocado, yesnodunno, Carlos Garbiras, Raine Lore, Jupiter Grant, Melanie J., Giedre P., Krystal Mossbarger, C.A. Jaymes, kasey sparks, Sadie Seroxcat, Charlie Tango, Penny Grubb, Roo Benjamin, Amanda Wilson, Angelina Der Arakelian, Reece Beckett, VV Valentine, Jessie Waddell, Jennifer McDougall, Diana Lotti