Dinner - a poem (with no AI)
A mother’s stern face.
Looking down,
cutting her meat with gravity.
A mound of Caesar dressing.
I stare for a long time at her face,
The looks up, finally,
And I break into a smile and a giggle.
Complement her idea
of adding meat to salad.
“ I like to keep things fresh” she says.
Goes back;
Complaining about a client at work.
Mocking.
He chimes in with his take on
why the client had been wrong.
Earlier that day,
I walked past Him
while he told his friend
over the phone
that he was home alone.
A ‘father’ of seven.
He doesn’t like to see them,
Least of all the freeloader.
Trying to make conversation.
I chime in, they each talk over me in turn.
I stop chiming in and finish my salad; politely, Quickly.
‘Is that all?’ I’ve been eating less.
‘I’ll start with this’
My mom brings up not seeing wildlife in real life, I’ve seen a ton.
She’s not been in The Wild as I know it.
‘I killed a rattlesnake once’
“Well that was stupid” thanks mom
‘I parked on top of it’
“Oh, I remember that”
Quiet
What is wrong right now
that causes dinner to be tense?
Why must something be wrong?
I find the meat, ‘what is this?’
“Pork chop, or chicken,
if that helps you feel better”
I put it back.
I’ve told them I avoid red meats.
‘Thanks for dinner’
grab a biscuit to go upstairs.
“No tater tots?”
‘No thanks’
“Well, see ya around”
Why do they resent me for not partaking in a social scene that I’m not welcome in and isn’t pleasant for them?
‘I’m always upstairs’
As in, you know where to find me
if you’d like to talk.
I havent told them about falling down the stairs.
And what would they say had I?
Such strange people,
miserable in a contagious way.
When I’m home with you,
I’m more than tolerated.
More than the patsy for resentment.
There I’m clever, calming, capable.
There, I can sob.
I can be angry and still kind.
Here, I even bathe alone.
Profane.
I think about your mom
asking for my opinion,
asking for our participation in her life.
Letting me laugh and talk and joke.
I think about your sister wanting dinner,
Mine hasn’t said a word.
Im forgetting again,
that i deserve to be heard.
If you try to call, you’ll find
That Verizon’s cut my line,
So we’ll have to use an app instead.
I miss home, which is you.
I can’t wait to be back soon.
~ Lucy