ONCE ON THANKSGIVING

It was close to four hundred years ago, this story,

They traveled far across the water for a new life.

These English settlers landed at Plymouth Rock,

The first Thanksgiving happened in sixteen twenty-one.

It was not your today sit-down supper, much different,

Not a turkey, no cranberry or mashed potatoes, a different feast.

They would not have survived if not for help from the Wampanoag Indians,

The winters were very hard. Today we have it much easier to be thankful.

The first Thanksgiving lasted three days; duck was a main course,

The Wampanoags’ leader’s name was Massasoit, once on Thanksgiving.

               Keith Garrett