Poem: Family
The shorthand for “we are closer than two people trying to profit from the other”
Is family.
So she repeats this key phrase, as though it were
The magic code from a 1930s adventure movie
That keeps our hero safe
From nefarious dark savages.
We are family.
We are family.
We are like family.
Us, our motley group of strivers
All at cross-purposes that clumsily
Dovetail in this office, where nothing beautiful occurs but clean transactions —
We are family.
Dysfunctional, of course. Looking out for selfish interests,
Like a rodent uncaged and pursued by larger carnivores.
Our love expressed in smiles and nods and polite laughing.
One cheerful unit.
Until the bill comes.
