Setting the table (first edit )

[71degrees]

Setting the table

The microwave oven came to our house for Christmas the same year as the Big Bang.
And we reheated gravy like it was nobody's business whether we said Grace first, or not.
We watched it bubbling over.
And we bubbled over ourselves, a little,
Toasting to a pastel future,
Toasting to now, finally arrived and with wine.

We had a three year affair with three minute popcorn,
And whatever our lot was,
The plot was for the house to smell of theatre,
And that was good enough for us.

My mother served trifle in a champagne glass,
That any sweet-tooth would bite through to taste.
But her coffee was total shit;
A shame because some of us looked forward to it,
More than the gravy even.

She always kept the gravy hot,
But sometimes there was more to the meat than we could gloss over,
With chewed fat and drippings.

This year we made hot dogs in the microwave,
So the place doesn't smell of the same home-cooked play as last year.
It's so much easier for things to get harder now.
We're more prepared for big bangs,
When you press the wrong button,
Or keep something in too long.

This is so fun to read. I remember my mother (using a micro wave for the first time) putting a roast beef sandwich from Arby's (the kind wrapped in tin foil) into a microwave to warm it up. Sparks were flying. She was crying. My sisters were all laughing. Dad was yelling. It was one crazy scene. Don't know if the "Big Bang" reference was intentional, but w/the popularity of the TV show, it doesn't hurt. Ditch the capitals on each line. Very passé….

Really enjoyed this. Thanks for posting. This would be a riot at a poetry reading.