“A Normal Party and the Day that Follows”

Elena Gomez

Come for party pies, stick

your hunting dogs on us, I

beg you. I left a smooth pebble

in your oven. I cursed a fat

snail, rendered it large and inedible

Flash your cards at a doorway

entrance and receive your pass:

a shin bone. These dogs, I tell you!

Like they’ve never had a normal night

in their lives. When they cease to hunt

we nibble some feathers in sync

My soupy brain is splash happy

I’m forked out with sharp nails

yes, it’s the joke, but my large son

asked for it & we tossed our limbs

into the casserole dish, doled it out

in seconds

That evening, we are laughing at this commercial,

frosted tips flashback , daughter glued

to screen, waves

lasagne sheets rippling from the kitchen

We topped a guy using the trampoline springs

uur daughter trained up,

fleshed out for adulthood & growth conflict

In the morning I wheeled it around long enough: the big

cone with our flash looks for summer

you’re holding the point of it

we bicker daily over which suburban

mums will hear our sales pitch.

You wrote all your best poems years ago

(this is your line) and I’ve yelled in return

I’m not anyone’s toy poet, I’m no play thing(!)

So we are stalking through the suburbs & big

cone follows, or leads maybe?

Depends on the hill strength

in any case, the time for discretion is

over & we begin

phase three