Among the leaves are scattered memories
of past Thanksgiving celebrations, time-worn
but persistent childhood thoughts that mingled
dread with excitement in nearly equal parts.
It was impossible to understand my family then,
even more so extended family—grandparents,
cousins, aunts and uncles, all veiled in mystery
created by time and distance and only occasional
awkward get-togethers where we all pretended
to be some version of the families we saw on TV.
