What a sight he was,
Garbed in finery—
Brown-dappled, feathery,
Long-legged majesty:
Niagara Parkway’s king.
He stalked toward the tourists,
Undaunted, vigilant.
He fixed his beady eyes
On my bashful ones.
I ran away.
Then, when he got too cocky,
Desperado style,
He lunged and drew some blood,
The citizens responded:
He must be stopped.
The local headlines bellowed,
“Mad Turkey on the Loose!”
The SWAT team was deployed,
‘Hut, hut, hut!” met “Gobble!”
We held our breath.
A bang, with flying feathers—
Proud Thomas lurched and fell,
Next to the river’s roar
In Paradise Grove, Niagara,
Our turkey died.
Now walkers stroll in safety,
Cyclists can wheel on by,
Young lovers snap their selfies,
And picnickers are undefied—
But our turkey is no more.
Alas, Tom Turkey is no more.
Source: Sally Basmajian, 2026
Death on the Parkway, 2018 was entered into the Niagara Falls Poetry Project’s 25th Anniversary Poetry Contest.
Sally Basmajian is the author of three traditionally published novels (So Hard to Do, a romcom; Fountain of Evil, a dark romance; and Apprentices in Magic, a middle-grade fantasy) and countless short stories, some of which are award-winners. With over 60,000 TikTok followers, she micro-influences by gleefully reading entries from her teen diaries.
https://www.sallybasmajian.com/ https://www.tiktok.com/@sallybasmajian