Dinner with the Family by Sabena Burkhart

Dinner with the Family

By Sabena Burkhart

I apologize in advance

For the loud and crazy circumstance

But you must understand

That my family is extremely grand

Let me introduce you!

Smell the coffee brew?

Mind your step

Don’t step on Cousin Kleppe

How about Uncle John?

He has a brother Sean

He’s has to be very calm

He married my aunt (who’s as loud as a bomb)

Italian? Ha! What gave it away?

Was it the accent, or the Godfather cliche?

Don’t look at him for too long

Or you’ll see his left eye is a different color all along

My mom can cook her heart out

Yet still have time to give her hair a blowout

She’s short, and cute

And sweet like fruit

No, that’s not blush

She’s always had that rosy hush

She’ll make you laugh

Or take your photograph

But most of all

She makes the best meatball

My dad is annoying

He never stops toying

He’ll mock you until your red

You’ll want to hit him over the head

But in the end

He’s my best friend

Macaroni, rigatoni

Spaghettini, and scallopini

Prepare for a feast

Feel free to unleash your inner beast

Renae will feed you bread

Donna will have the salad instead

Can you still hear me over the radio?

I can’t turn the music off, no

Dean Martin is always on repeat

Sometimes Frank Sinatra will take the hot seat

Get used to it

Because it will never quit

Dinner is over

And I wish you would have slept over!

Huh? My family was too loud?

And the food didn’t wow?

Well excuse me, ma’am

I’m going to have to ask you to scram

Because my family is loyal and proud

We are not afraid to speak out loud

I can not apologize for my family’s actions

Or take away some infractions

The Burkhart's, O'Brien's, and Ianuzzi’s are here to stay

We’ll still be here until you’re old and grey

It may be weird to you

But it’s perfectly normal in my point of view

So we will act in our own special way

And my dear friend, you can’t take that away.