Turkeys in the Mood
by Mary Langer Thompson
 
The fourth graders trace
fingers to begin
their Thanksgiving drawings
then color the bodies
purple, orange, green.
"Does he look real?"
asks one student.
The tail is fanned out,
body puffed
looking huge and proud.
"More surreal,
like Picasso might have drawn,"
I say.
"Probably after he lost his ear, right?"
 
I decide not to tell her
only wild ones appear this way
right before mating.