Another class (Spring 1999) assignment. This one was to be written in response to one of the poems we read in class. One of them, Aurora Harris' Amidst Interruption, did some interesting things with physical structure, and I attempted to work with those ideas here.

Family Dinner at the Moorings

Under the hum of candelit conversation
My fingers hide
Twisting themselves into tangled knots.
The Chardonnay arrives, borne by a starched and pressed waiter
I choke on its bitterness.
Three generations are here surrounding me -
Blood, thicker than water, is here as thin and sharp
As the chilly breeze off the bay.

This afternoon I was clinging to a sheer cliff
Feeling the glory of the sea wind against my face
Alone,          alive
And now I am here, feeling my stockings itch beneath
The velvet dress Aunt Karen thought was so becoming.

I want to go home. This is not home,
This is a crowd of strangers who claim
My time and my energy based on some threadbare commonality of genes
Honor and respect in exchange for obedience and proper behavior.
(no wonder my mother went mad.)

How was Deer Island? the matriarch asks.
Oh, it was dull - nothing but a few rocks.
Rocks?
Did you even see them, touch them, they're the soul
of this place!
A soul that's been coated in orchid-scented perfume
And set on display for a million visitors a year.

Of course I say nothing.
I could rebel - I could run out of this restaurant screaming
Spilling glasses of champagne and tripping other matriarchs
Leading their clan in to dine in elegance.
If I did, I'd be dead
       Dead
        DEAD
but at least I'd be out of here.

The main course makes its appearance.
My grandmother sends her lobster back.
It's overdone, and she wants another vodka.
My shrimp are sweet and deliciously juicy
They taste           dry as dust
          Dust
           DUST



©2010 Heather Keith Freeman, save where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.