In-Laws Poem by shimon weinroth

are possessions one gets,
resulting from a legal contract
of which you are the b-product
of your off-springs' avarice and passion
or other multiple mistakes

agreeable or not you are adopted
as long as the contract is not dissolved
even in divorce you are the former in-law
honored or obeyed are not necessarily
traits of the trade

farunkles or fistulas are inflamations
that are lanced, the puss expelled and the
patient heals, indigestion, vomits the meals
heart burn and apoplexy, suffocating are
all ailments that pass

moaning and groaning gain some relief from
the pain and grief of maladies of
in-lawization, legal or not though sanctioned
by the establishment usually hurts,
the innocent by stander and adopted relative

suffer in silence is a kind of advice
that leads to mumbling, bourgeois and nice
spice of gossiping, joy of the trivial are
little compensation for the over all sacrifice

you are in for Jovian adventures without recompense
to a secondary role at your expense
by vows and promises others have made
you acquiesce in the hope some
of your genes and memes wil pepper the future
justifies this trade with the Marquis de Sade