secret recipes

there's always

a sister,

or an aunt, or uncle, who has

a secret recipe

for something that they've brought

to the Thanksgiving

feast

across town.

what's in this cranberry sauce

i ask

Aunt Sylvia?

she smiles and whispers,

i can't tell you that, 

if i did, i'd have

to kill you.

tell us about the stuffing i ask

Max,

the neighbor

who comes in carrying a plastic

bowl

of stuffing.

he smiles, and shakes his head.

can't tell you that.

same goes

for Martha, my sister with her

mashed potatoes.

her lips are sealed, except when

she's gnawing on

a turkey leg the size

of her arm.