The Family Dinner

By Sam Sobel

 

We played “HORSE” in the stinging spring heat,

Our 7th grade guts hurting with laughter

Every time we racked up 2 or 3 letters.

 

The backdoor creaked open, and my mother

Invited our grass stained selves

In for dinner: mashed potatoes, peas, and steak.

The theme that night was easy to swallow,

As it had been for a couple weeks now;

Two out of three isn’t bad.

 

We sat at the table taking in gulps of air

Filled with the scent of food, and seasoned with silence.

My mother had gone to wake the guest of honor

In the basement turned guest room.

 

You heard his gauntness before seeing it–

His lungs had become whoopie cushions of coughs

That made even the most experienced pranksters

Uncomfortable when he inched up the carpeted steps.

His tufts of hair revealed a Jesus-like appearance in his prime,

And his eyes revealed an acceptance that he was to die for his own sins.

 

My friend said “Hola” to the unexpected guest.

He responded, “Are you Spanish?”

My friend said,

“No, I’m not.”

 

We mumbled through grace as my friend and the guest sat in silence.

Forks and knives clanged but the skeleton sized elephant in the room

Left his steak untouched.

My mother painted the air with banter,

A color that didn’t fit the canvas well–

And my dad sat knowingly, quietly.

 

 

Sam’s Bio:

Sam Sobel is studying English with a double minor in Creative Writing and German. When he isn’t writing poetry, he is reading and getting adjusted to going to an online university.