Thanksgiving Menus

Before we knew it, the sons and daughters
of our parents had grown old themselves.
Some are even intermingled with the ghosts,
some have gone beyond and returned, and now
they run up and down and jump and play, barely
aware of, and mostly unconcerned about, the world
to which they’ve returned, just completely thrilled
to have these bodies, this endless energy again,
to see it all again as if for the very first time,
to taste and hear and smell and touch again,
and it is always for the first time, this one
and only life lived again and again in endless
dramas, dramas of experience, dramas of hope
and regret, of gain and loss, life after life lived
just for the fun of it, like a child’s favorite game,
or even a terrible tragedy, but everyone rises up
from the stage once the curtain comes down,
the actors laugh and embrace, toast each other
with sodas and champagne, then they plan
their holiday menus, and share the best ideas.