Several years ago, I published a poem called “Tomak Stuffing” in an anthology called A Magical Summer. The beginnings of the poem had come from a quirky misreading. It was around Thanksgiving and someone had left me a text saying that she was going “tomak stuffing.” She had texted hurriedly and meant to say that she was going “to make stuffing.”

I didn’t immediately pick up the mistake and asked her what indeed was actually involved in “tomak stuffing.”

Later, I decided to run with it, to make an entire world where “tomak stuffing” was an actual and important ritual, filled with wives’ tales and traditional lore

The poem was published in 2012.

I’d been thinking of the poem recently, so this week I put together a short four-minute video with various photos/paintings, with Enya’s version of “Na Laetha Geal M’óige” in the background and with me reading the poem itself.

I think of it as a Thanksgiving poem, but it really isn’t.

So here it is Tomak Stuffing: the video for your enjoyment: