Pilgrimage Passed

It's exhausting in Early November
When the leisurely pace of
Fall gives way to
The hurried bustle
Of Christmas

Poor Pilgrims have been
Forsaken this year, it seems,
A small shelf at Target
On clearance
More than a week
Before November 26

People pass by
That in between time
Crazy to be prepared for
Christmas

What are you doing for the Holidays?
They want to know
When I, myself, am still
Deliberating Thanksgiving

Chasing my calendar
Every week is exhausting
Weekends filling up with
visits and lists and to-do's

Instinctively, I resist
Rebelling, I resist
Content to watch
The last of the mums turn brown
And the pumpkins fade.

----- Wendy Pierman Mitzel