Between the Green Bean Casserole and the Pumpkin Pie
By: Copper Rose
Between the turkey drumsticks
and mashed potatoes
Uncle floats a flask
of his favorite bourbon.
Between the stuffing
and apple Waldorf salad,
my cousin puffs
on his left–handed cigarette —
tells us how he helped
Noah build the Ark.
"Vas goot! Vas goot!"
Between the peas and carrots
my ninety–five–year–old
grandmother cries for Auntie,
the third to pass over.
Grandma's hands shake
as she pours on the salt.
Somewhere between the
green bean casserole
and the pumpkin pie,
I glance at my mother.
She's proud and then horrified.
She's forgotten to say grace
at the beginning
so she says it somewhere
in the middle.
My cousin reminds us,
"It's never too late.
Vas goot! Vas goot!"
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