Family Entertainment

My family feast today, a welcome
surprise to be together, who we are
we hide, disguised behind dips of mayo,
humous, we laugh at each other's traits.

And somehow the bonhomie turns ugly.
Now the sizzling steak on the barbecue
builds to an ugly crescendo of fat and blood,
and unsurprisingly, the cats are nowhere to be seen.

I go to find them, stacking empties and plates,
helter-skeltering over three-year olds, parents
blindly bitter, unaware but to randomly berate
kids play in trails of alcohol, skidding cars within
without which this family might just die unhappy.

At the kitchen window, a tappety-tapping face, my friend
smiles, gesticulates to a space, introduces me;
I cannot hear, nor see, but however feel
uncomfortable.