Dining Gaffe. Poem by Miki Byrne

Dining Gaffe.



Dining Gaffe.

Conversation ebbs and flows.
Equal emphasis from each person.
Cornered around a laden table.
Words are swapped. Vocal tennis.
Mixed doubles cheered on by a good dinner.
Then one becomes competitive.
Sees her happy with another.
Breaks the unsaid rule of table talk.
Hits a verbal volley, painful in its speed.
His opposite is taken down.
Precariously rocked by the unexpected swipe.
Hurt by the probe of questions too deep for etiquette.
Dislikes the hard thump of intrusion. She sits.
Held uncomfortably in place.
Unable to disrupt the social balance.
As she becomes the butt her partner sits mystified.
A subtle shift has trembled through the room.
They rise to leave. Give cool thanks.
Yet burn with the building warmth of anger.

Saturday, August 1, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: people
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