The Night Before Thanksgiving
A very-Saratoga story about the biggest party night of the year.
‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving, when all through the town
All the 20-somethings were stirring, getting done up to get down;
Each outfit was chosen with the utmost of care,
In faith that everyone from high school would surely be there;
The girls were dressed up wearing high heels, not Keds,
While visions of White Claws danced in their heads;
And boys in their joggers and backwards baseball caps,
Came out in full force in search of their latest thirst traps;
When out on Caroline Street there arose such a clatter,
Paul sprang from CSP to see what was the matter.
Away from the bar he flew like a flash,
Stumbling a bit as, obviously, he was trashed;
The commotion was caused by the season’s first snow,
Which fell on the heads of the revelers below.
When what to his wondering eyes did appear,
But a beautiful girl, holding a craft beer;
With a Clarkson jacket and eyes like two jewels,
He knew in a moment it was Chloe, home from school.
His hands started sweating at the sight of his old flame,
But he lost his nerve and couldn’t call out her name;
“Hey, Cassie! Hey, Lauren! Hey, Erin and Pearl!”
He discreetly waved down her pack full of girls;
“She has a boyfriend at college,” they said with gall,
“Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away, Paul.”
He left then and there, his face in a scowl,
Figured he’d see what was up at The Night Owl;
When turning on Maple Avenue what did he meet?
But a line of cold people, stretching down the street;
“Screw that,” he said, turning right around,
But Night Owl wasn’t the only bar with a wait, he found;
Gaffneys and City Tavern and the Ice House, too,
All had long lines, and they didn’t have you.
He eventually landed at Tin & Lint with a sigh,
Sulking in the booth where Don McClean wrote “American Pie.”
He sipped on a Miller, a Manhattan, a gin,
Wondering all those years how Chloe had been;
Maybe, he thought, he should’ve gone out in Troy,
But then, of course, he couldn’t get an Oboy;
To Esperanto he went, his eyes on the prize,
When all of a sudden, he and Chloe locked eyes.
“Paul!” she said, and his heart skipped a beat,
No one could deny the two of them had heat;
Her makeup was smudged and her friends MIA,
“Jake dumped me,” she said and he almost shouted “hooray!”
He held in his joy and gave her a hug,
But the look on his face was anything if not smug;
He bought her an Oboy and a bottle of water,
She said she got the call when she was walking by Trotter’s;
They ended up talking late into the night,
He did a pretty bad job of hiding his delight;
“Want to get out of here?” he asked after a while,
She opened up Uber and called a car with a smile;
When the Uber arrived, they left hand in hand,
And away they went, as if all this was planned;
But I heard him exclaim, ere they drove out of sight—
“Happy Thanksgiving Eve to all, and to all a good night!”
—Natalie
Fun Fact: The poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” was first published anonymously in the Sentinel, the local newspaper of Troy, NY, on December 23, 1823.