For a Captive Audience

The loss of one man is another man’s family, 

they never said directly. The party said it for them.

New church friends exclaimed with cheese and crackers.

God, they were loud and so happy, that gathering

of the holy. For a moment, they focused on me. "Say church."
they insisted, until I said, "chowch." not getting yet

how the accent I carried made it all so entertaining.
They watched the Capuchin monkey, dancing tuneless,
and unpaid, and laughed a long time before chatter resumed.

“You’re lucky he’s so young...” said hushed voice Ethel,

“He won't remember what happened."
My mother agreed, and went over the details again.

-Brent Allard