Situation Comedy

Grandma arrives first, of course,

In her chromium wheel chair,

Her hat on, her one leg tapping.

Mary Baker Eddy,

She tells us, has preserved her.

And Uncle Lee, prospector,

Who finds nothing, ever,

But a few rocks, rocks

That glow under black light,

Worthless and beautiful ...

And then, my mother-in-law,

Who hated Adlai's shrewd eyes,

Who hates Kennedy's hair-do ...

The crazy-quilt mantle

Of the Republic offends her.

Hangdog, my father-in-law

And I will wash dishes,

And plate by plate argue.

He's 1/32 Indian.

He wants to blow the world up.

Later, flatulent, stunned,

We'll all watch TV,

And hearing the laugh track-

Those tracks are thirty years old!-

We'll laugh as the dead laugh.