Let's Finish This Poem by Raj Dronamraju

At the banquet of tomorrow
The seating chart has been arranged
They were sensitive to and informed about who should not be placed next to whom

You gently elbow my ribs
And we share a smirk of resignation
Because we are both losers
Not necessarily lost or failed
But in what defines this evening, we are not on the same page

For the sake of politeness, dishes are passed to us
And someone asks rote pleasantries
Someone else presents their true feelings as an indigestion countenance
"It was unpleasant when I had to acknowledge with response and effort you existed"

You gently continue the running monologue on our way of seeing things
Making fun of the very rough looking people dressed up in grand attire that does not suit them
And is not grand at all

For our times were full of minor triumphs and unnoticed rebellions
Took the crude, obvious enemy at face value
And went into the deadly breach with shimmering ambivalence