Bob Lucky
Thanksgiving
I’m at a friend’s house for an annual Thanksgiving gathering of Americans, Portuguese, Slovakians, South Africans, and Italians. We steer clear of politics, but we’re all thankful to be in Portugal. The main dish this year is leitão, suckling pig. Side dishes and desserts reflect the eclecticism of a potluck—green bean casserole, sweet potato pie with a cloud of marshmallows, fish cakes, biltong, cheeseboards, bowls of potato chips, guacamole, mac and cheese, pastel de nata, and peanut butter cookies. Kids and dogs are underfoot, wanting to be fed or go outside. Everyone is keeping an eye on the pecan pie someone brought. In the living room there’s futebol on TV. I wander back to the kitchen, where I meet John. We talk about his move to Portugal. He had never left Kansas, he claims, until he sold his suburban home and immigrated here. “How’s apartment living?” I ask. He swirls the wine in his glass and taps the heels of his shoes together. “I’ll never have to mow the grass again the rest of my life.”
sunset a toast to pumpkin pies past
About the Author
Bob Lucky‘s books include My Wife & Other Adventures (Red Moon Press, 2024), My Thology: Not Always True But Always Truth (Cyberwit, 2019), and Conversation Starters in a Language No One Speaks (SurVision Books, 2018), a winner of the 2018 James Tate Poetry Prize. Lucky lives in Portugal, where he’s working his way through all the regional cheeses and wines.