Writer Al Young joins us, as he has been all year, marking the start of each month with a poem. For this November, he's found inspiration in shorter days and turkey.
OH, NO, NOVEMBER, NOT AGAIN!
Nobody knows November better than
all those on whom November zeroes in
real close, real hard. From Mendocino cold
to stark Kern County homelessness, behold
the ways we come at holidays: We scheme,
we borrow, break down, beg & pray & dream.
Why sport November? Try another shot.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, voting year or not,
-- eliminate the holidays, at least postpone.
What makes us want to hibernate & groan
about how dark & cold our mornings get?
Just picture Turlock turkeys gobbling wet,
well-doctored feed, an evil meal, their last.
Feast on the breast & meat Novembers cost.
Dig into cooked root veggies, fallen leaves,
& smell the yawning earth; the way she loves
a coat or shawl or sweater fuzzed with lichen.
Time out. Oh, no, November, not again!
Our Veteran's Day (once called Armistice Day),
the Bay of Pigs, the hit on JFK,
Presidio of Monterey, Seal Beach,
Fort Pendleton, McClellan, Travis. "Reach
for the sky, partner. And don't nobody move!"
The stage-coach robs us now. Do you need proof?
Nobody knows November better than
all those on whom November zeroes in.
Al Young served as California's Poet Laureate from 2005 to 2008. Throughout this year he'll be reading an original California poem for us near the start of each month.
