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Thanksgiving Week . . . With Pie

The decision has been made with regards to pie. There will be 3. And they will be full sized. As cute as those little pies are I worry that they will be . . . fussy to make and more challenging than just following my usual pie formula. So, later today I will make 2 sets of pie dough instead of my usual 5. And tomorrow I will make a pumpkin, a mincemeat, and a cranberry pecan. In the spirit of pie, I found this poem to share with you. I think the title couldn’t be more appropriate because pie = perfection!

Perfect for Any Occasion

1.

Pies have a reputation.
And it’s immediate—no talk of potential

Regarding a pie.  It’s good
Or it isn’t, but mostly it is—sweet, very sweet

Right then, right there, blue and red.
It can’t go to junior college,

Work hard for the grades,
Work two jobs on the side.

It can’t slowly build a reputation
And a growing client base.

A pie gets one chance
And knows it, wearing as makeup

Those sparkling granules of sugar,
As a collar those diamond cutouts

Bespeaking Fair Day, felicity, contentment.
I tell you everything is great, says a pie,

Great, and fun, and fine.
And you smell nice, too, someone says.

A full pound of round sound, all ahh, all good.
Pies live a life of applause.

2.

But then there are the other pies.
The leftover pies.  The ones

Nobody chooses at Thanksgiving.
Mincemeat?  What the hell is that? people ask,

Pointing instead at a double helping of Mr.
“I-can-do-no-wrong” pecan pie.

But the unchosen pies have a long history, too.
They have plenty of good stories, places they’ve been—

They were once fun, too—
But nobody wants to listen to them anymore.

Oh sure, everybody used to love lard,
But things have changed, brother—things have changed.

That’s never the end of the story, of course.
Some pies make a break for it—

Live underground for a while,
Doing what they can, talking fast,

Trying to be sweet pizzas, if they’re lucky.
But no good comes of it.  Nobody is fooled.

A pie is a pie for one great day.  Last week,
It was Jell-O.  Tomorrow, it’ll be cake.


Originally published in The Dangerous Shirt (Copper Canyon Press, 2009). Copyright © by Alberto Ríos.

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. What a great, fun poem! Perfect for Pie Day! (I’ve got 3 pies going on today, too. And I’m especially excited now that I’ve finally figured out pie crust.) XO

  2. Loved the poem, and Robby’s comment.

    Here, there will be just one pie (instead of six). I usually make two each (so everyone can take some home) of two crust apple, pecan, and apple crumble with caramel. This year will be an apple/pecan pie, with caramel sauce to drizzle!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  3. I’m glad you will have three full-size pies and very glad to read the pie poem! I hope the two pumpkin pies I’m making today will be saying that “everything is great”.

  4. Fun poem! I’m only making one instead of three. Making pumpkin with a promise of a) pecan, b) apple and, perhaps c) mince a little later (but some of those before Christmas!).

  5. LOL, what fun! also, Jell-O always featured at my dad’s house when he was growing up and he hated it … we never had it at ours!

  6. Great poems!
    I’ve never made a crust from scratch. It seemed too much like it needed a special magic when I watched my mother make them. I just buy ‘freezer’ crusts and they are ready when I’m ready. Okay, perhaps not the ‘best’ crust, but at least a consistent crust.

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