Open Your House Poem by Charlotte Ballard

When you open your house
To lovers or kin,
Dust off your patience,
Double up on clean towels.
Scrub down bathrooms
And morals, forget about
Privacy or programs –
Or legends of peace
And quiet from baby
Or the police.
No shouting allowed,
Only whisper instead-
When you say cheese -
Your mouth will squeak
As the smiles evaporate in
Dinners that are late,
Often quite ruined as you
Pretend
That you can-
Be the lover of kin
Or the kin of lovers –
The bed remains undone.
And the lover unfed.