A Family Luncheon in Honor of Independence Day

The flag posted without enthusiasm
The interior doors locked against children
Whose mothers aver that their pryings and thefts
Are expressions of their authentic selves

Dutiful hot dogs, Chinese paper plates
Surgeries, diets, and bowel movements
Articulated in autopsic detail
And catalogues of recent family deaths

The in-laws sit for hours; they won’t go away -
Now speak again of Independence Day!