This Thanksgiving we send our warmest gratitude to you, our readers. Thank you for taking time each month to read the news and stories we publish about our town, our friends, our neighbors. Your engagement propels us in our mission to provide quality journalism that informs and connects us as a community. From our newsroom to your gathering we wish you a Thanksgiving abundant with reasons to be grateful.  

Ode to Thanks By: Pablo Neruda—translated by Ken Krabbenhoft

Thanks to the word 
that says thanks! 
Thanks to thanks,
word 
that melts
iron and snow! 
The world is a threatening place 
until 
thanks makes the rounds
 from one pair of lips to another, 
soft as a bright 
feather
 and sweet as a petal of sugar, 
filling the mouth with its sound
or else a mumbled 
whisper. 
Life becomes human again:
 it’s no longer an open window.
A bit of brightness 
strikes into the forest, 
and we can sing again beneath the leaves. 
Thanks, you’re the medicine we take 
to save us from 
the bite of scorn. 
Your light brightens the altar of harshness. 
Or maybe 
a tapestry 
known 
to far distant peoples. 
Travelers
 fan out
 into the wilds, 
and in the jungle 
of strangers, 
merci 
rings out 
while the hustling train 
changes countries, 
sweeping away borders
then spasibo 
clinging to pointy volcanoes, to fire and freezing cold, 
or danke, yes! and gracias, and 
the world turns into a table: 
a single word has wiped it clean, 
plates and glasses gleam, 
silverware tinkles, 
and the tablecloth is as broad as a plain.
Thank you, thanks, for going out and returning, 
for rising up
and settling down. 
We know, thanks, 
that you don’t fill every space-
you’re only a word-
but where your little petal appears the daggers of pride take cover,
and there’s a penny’s worth of smiles.