When the papers get signed
we decide to have a party.
Instead of getting gifts
we give back everything
we don't know how to divide.
"Here you go Eddie, have a toaster."
At the church service
all our relatives
go to the altar,
we sit in the pews.
Later, we shake their hands,
wish them "Good Luck."
We throw rice at them.
Our godchild, Michaela,
picks roses off the floor
and puts them in a basket.
That night the rental DJ
plays love songs backwards.
My mother turns her ear
to the scratchy music.
"There's something evil-
sounding in this" she says.