For These Thy Gifts
1. Warm Up
from jeans and flannel shirt
to frumpy homemade dress
family is not company
I try
put it on
my mother grits
itchy frills don’t
make the girl
underneath my breath
the oven buzzes
time
twenty minutes every year
from grace to opening drive
- Kick off
good food
good meat
good God
let’s eat
my southern uncle
scores a laugh
the booze rolls out
and passing starts
what we know:
who tackles turkey legs
gets our respect
my Spanish uncle dives
for one crisp stick
my father clips his son
nabs the other one
earns my mother’s glance
three aunts tally points for
green bean casserole
yams and marshmallows
cocktailed fruit in red jell-o
the score sits tied
- Half time
my northern uncle lays
his head on hands that splay
the crocheted cloth
someday my pool
face down beneath
the floating things
the dishes stop mid-wash
and whipped cream hangs
around a chilled red bowl
don’t feel that way
don’t talk like that
don’t be such an ass
the frilly itch goes on
beside the pumpkin pie
Time out
God,
I’m sending back
blue-collar slurs that make me blush
taunts-to-tears about my weight
girdle garters sissy curls
do not send againOvertime
laughs threats doggie bags
cigarette butts whiskey breath
bounty of worlds that end
one
by
one amen
Previously published in Carolyn Martin, Finding Compass (Portland, OR: Queen of Wands Press, 2011)
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://therelationshipblogger.com/for-these-thy-gifts/