Sunday Dinner
Aunties are alternating Chef Shifts
grandmothers are setting grandkids’ portions
The is house drowning in the amazing smells and tastes of
High Blood pressure, diabetes
Greens, black eyed peas, jiffy-mix-mixed cornbread
And corned beef
Thundering of cousins running back inside the house with heavy feet
from the park, lifting up rocks to see what was underneath
playing chalk-drawn four squares, tripping during double dutch
and racing down the sidewalk
To test the fastest of all of us
The old house shining with youth
The elders are blocking the entrance to the kitchen
Until we’ve washed our hands
While we ate, we played
Uno, Pictionary, Scrabble and Scattergories
scattered on the floor for hours on end
Everything always lasting one more round
There's the unmistakeable sounds of
pure laughter
popping of grease
plastic forks scraping plasticware
thte Slicing of store bought pastries
the murmurs of aunty's banana pudding and uncle's handmade pound cake
pleas for another scoop, another slice, the making of a side plate
There’s only a couple deviled eggs left hiding in the fridge
Some long distance relative randomly appears
Oh man how long has it been
Everyone smiling
Dishes piling
Awaiting their the end of the night wash
The Elders dozing off into light sleep
The kids clean off the tables
As it’s nearing time to leave
All I need is one last soul food sunday dinner
Where happiness is actually a thing
And everyone is in attendance, and there are no empty seats
Everyone is late and in their designated place
And the youngest gets to say grace and everything she's greatful for