Mark’s All-Male Thanksgiving

[MAN TWO & WOMAN]
Looking in the window
Of this empty house space
I see their reflections in my face

[MAN ONE]
Every Thanksgiving
Mark made his all-male Thanksgiving dinner
Where men cooked the turkey and men made the cranberry sauce-
Without nuts, 'cause men don't like nuts
But the stuffing was manly and the fingerbowls ditto
And ditto, the pureed sweet yams
Very manly
When Mark made his all-male Thanksgiving

Bill Sherwood was present
He wrote and directed Parting Glances
A movie for which Mark raised the money
In which Arthur invested
And the Thanksgiving crew
Put money in too
Steve Buscemi was featured; his first time on screen
And you knew you were watching a star
God, he was great
But he wasn't at Mark's all-male Thanksgiving

Remembering this
Is sort of like Grandpa remembering his shtetl
It seems to take place so, so long ago
In the past
The memories last, but fade
What a community we made

Diplomats, poets, opera guys, guys dressed in leather britches
Some paunchy, some starting to bald, some were awful
And some were okay
In a non-threatening way
Mark the lawyer wore flannel, he comes from Wisconsin
The handsomest guy wore a tie
That was Arthur: sweetly decent, funny, and living
I met Arthur when Mark made his all-male Thanksgiving

And the excellent movie, that Bill Sherwood filmed
Was his first and his last
Since, alas, the boy passed
Arthur still, when he smiles, he makes my heart flutter
We think it's been twenty-two years
I wrote this song to not forget Mark's all-male Thanksgiving
It's been so long since Mark made his all-male Thanksgiving
Where we gave thanks