The Turkey

Once there was a turkey

Among a gaggle of his peers

They had been penned up together

For many many years.

 

And every thanksgiving

The panic it began

As the turkeys tried to find a way

To avoid the farmer’s plan

 

“It’s so unfair!”

Gobbled one bird, “I really am confused,”

“How could a man take care of us,”

“With these thoughts, there’s no excuse.”

 

Another one said, “Hey there bird,”

There’s no need to complain,

“I feel a great big storm a-comin’”

“We’ll hide out in the rain.”

 

Then there appeared a sly old fox

Whose words were very slick

And frankly when he came around,

It made one turkey sick.

 

“There’s that fox,” He’d say to himself

“I wonder what he needs,

He’s always up to something

He’s mischievous in his deeds.”

 

“Hello fowl!” Said the smooth fox

There was a twinkle in his eye

“I think I have a greater plan,

To save you from turkey pot pie.”

 

“I know where the famer keeps his gun

And if you trust me here,

We can craft a master plan,

To make the farmer disappear.”

 

This turkey thought, “We’ll harm the man!

This can’t be what is right,

I cannot do what is not good

I must put up a fight!”

 

“NO!” He screamed, He scared himself

And all the turkeys stared

“We must always do the moral thing

No matter if we’re scared.”

 

“Hogwash!” said the sly old fox

Are you listening to this bird

He’s suggesting that you accept defeat

With each and every word.”

 

The turkeys scowled, they shut him out

And they plotted, and they schemed,

“If he was willing to do it to us,

He’s more evil than we dreamed.”

 

And so the fox helped make their plans

And bravely walked away,

But no one knew that he had a plan

For later on that day.

 

The turkey overheard him say

To all his foxy friends,

“Tonight they’ll be together,

And so our long wait ends.”

 

“They will not all be hiding,

Just like they always do

And so there will be a lot of turkey

For you and you and you.”

 

“Oh no!” the turkey shuttered,

I knew this was a trick

That fox is always up to something

Deceitful, something slick.”

 

“I have to warn them, but how” he thought

“I’m not sure they see the end

That if they harm the farmer

There will be no one to defend

 

Against the evil plans of

The den of foxes who

Will then attack the gaggle

And probably others too.”

 

So the turkey tried to tell them,

But they would not agree,

“You just don’t like the very thought,

Of us all being free.”

 

They said, “You may like the farm

And the farmer and his stable,

But we are all unwilling to

Be the next meal on his table.”

 

The turkey thought and thought and thought

About what he should do

And then it finally came to him

“Tonight, I’ll be there too”

 

“I will stand up for was is right

No matter what their mood,

And I will sacrifice myself

That will be my attitude.”

 

And so the evening did unfold,

And the turkey’s plans weren’t stopped,

And the foxes stood by waiting

And licking their big chops

 

And as the other turkeys saw

The farmer closing in,

They took their aim and took a breath

For it was their time to win.

 

When suddenly the turkey hero

Jumped in to their site

And the gun went off, and suddenly

There was the silence of the night.

 

The farmer saw the fallen bird

And the smoking gun,

And he saw the foxes in the field

The cowards on the run.

 

He held the bird and realized

That his life had just been saved

And that this bird had done an amazing thing

To keep him from the grave.

 

He cradled the bird in his arms,

And suddenly he left,

For the turkey, he was still alive

He took in a giant breath.

 

So the farmer nursed the bird to health

And placed him in a pen

Where he could never be hurt or frightened

By the fox ever again.

 

And as for the other birds,

They were all safe too

And let’s just say from that day on,

The farmer prepared Fox stew.

 

Now the morale of this little tale

Is easily understood

That integrity affects the way

That you view bad from good

 

And if you live your life in such a way

That you always do what’s right

Our God who sacrificed His son

Will surely win your fight.

 

So this thanksgiving let’s do our best

To thank Christ for the price he paid

For we all just a gaggle

Of Turkey’s needing to be saved.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!