The Engagement Party

Poetry Month, day 14


The Engagement Party

Some of the guests were grey-haired,

one was a girl of 13, 

one was a babe in arms.

Some were family,

some were colleagues.

Some were Adam's mates from schooldays,

others were newer friends.

We all dressed up in our party best.

Josh's little sister,

there with her handsome husband

and cherished toddler daughter, 

was slender and beautiful like Josh himself

(who clearly adored his tiny niece).

There was Adam's bestie, Emma, of course,

his step-mum (me)

and his boss.

I ran around taking photos.

The crowd overflowed the restaurant

to gather outside in the balmy back yard.

It was Adam and Josh's favourite restaurant;

you could see that the owner and waiters

knew them not only as regulars but friends.

I was taken good care of, an honoured guest.

The nibbles were spicy, the sangria rich.

The entertainment arrived 

in a flurry of glamour. 

Big hair, lavish frocks,

full-strength make-up: 

black-rimmed, sultry eyes;

huge, red, luscious lips.

The bodies were fat and fabulous,

body language outrageously seductive.

"Hello, Yes voters," they declaimed.

(We'd just had our plebiscite 

in favour of gay marriage.)

"Because, if you're not Yes voters,

what the hell are you doing here?"

Applause, yells of agreement, laughter.

Adam and Josh didn't time it that way on purpose,

but it was a delightful piece of synchronicity.

"How old are you, dear?" they asked the teen.

"Are you here with family, or did you just 

wander in off the street?"

Polite lass, she gave straight answers

in her sweet young voice.

"You might want to get her out of here now," 
they alerted her aunt 

before starting in on their bawdiest jokes.

When the night got darker

we all crammed inside.

In a corner, a man played flamenco guitar.

We made circles and danced.

I left around midnight. The guys

sent me back to their place with friends

who couldn't stay on either. 

A kind young woman took my arm to the door.

In the morning, when I emerged 

from the spare room, bodies

were crashed out on both couches. One,

when he woke, turned out to be a chap

I'd known for years; Adam even longer.

He staggered to his feet to give me a hug.

After breakfast, Adam drove me

to catch my plane for home.

When I looked at my photos later,

a lot of them were blurry. (I guess 

I was blurry myself, after more than a bit

of imbibing.) But they showed

the spirit of the occasion: joyous.

We didn't put them on facebook.

It's still a secret from Josh's parents 

back home, hoping for something normal.

(So if anyone comments on this on facebook or other social media, please don't name names.) And here is one of the entertainers:

The prompt Eres Tu at "imaginary garden with real toads" asks us to find inspiration in a song of that name, sung on a video about a gay wedding.