POEM - The Stories that Bind

The drive home I was bleary eyed

Barely in control of my faculties

All of the reflectors shone bright

Looking like pillars of light

Through my tears flooding down my face

As I laughed hysterically

This time it was a good one

Our last weekend all together

Before the eldest child went off alone

Time to leave the nest and venture out

We had been out all day and it was late

Lunch was fantastic but hours ago

Since then we’d endured family photos

Wandered around the old city graveyard

Found a tombstone that made us laugh

All it said was “Hamburger”

We took a picture as we snickered and joked

Later we indulged in hot fudge sundaes

With whipped cream and a cherry on top

Half of the cherries were removed

And placed on top of Ezra’s sundae

It made him remark he had an endless supply

After that we headed to the dollar flicks

To catch a animated something or other

Unfortunately we were in the least renovated theatre

The one with all the old seats

Including the ones that would fold down

And then when sat on release their hold

The one they had on a horizontal orientation

They would suddenly become padded slides

Sending the rider towards suspiciously sticky floors

That started the silliness

The movie was just OK but bearable

The little kid gagging

And then making puke sounds

Directly behind Linda

Was a reason to exit before the credits rolled

When we got to the car we laughed

About the sounds the kid made

The condition of the theatre

And the fun of the day

Then the reminiscence turned more hilarious

As we brought up those terrible stories

The ones that just our immediate family knows

But will never tell another soul

Ever

Or else

You heard me Max

Not even at scout camp

You too Josie

These are things we don’t share

And Clair and Ezra and Vern

Forget what you heard

Even the one about grandma

These are special stories

Of things that make my eyes water

In uncontrollable laughter

For the entire twenty miles home

Events that bind a family together

With heavy unbreakable chains

Forever and ever

All the way to the grave

And I’m not kidding!