Supper With My Parents
greg kosmicki
We're all squinched up
at the kitchen table
tempers short
everyone on best behavior
Mark tries obliquely
to say shocking things
Audrey pretends to be fashionably cool
Briana angry because she's tired
Debbie tense because of
take your pick
(1) cooking (2) my mom (3) kids aggravating
(4) tired from work
(5) difficulty working in the cramped
kitchen (6) internal pressure
from work-related stresses (7) headache
(8) all of the above
Dad tired from the trip
Mom in a daze
me, I don't know--
tense from knowing all of the above
plus tired from
work, long nights,
tired kids,
worry that Mark's
going to gross out the grandparents,
irritated that Audrey's being phony
tension from old wounds
long past, unhealed
when we hear
a bird call outside
the kitchen window and Debbie
and Mom get up to see
two beautiful blue jays
feeding in the evening shade
