At the family reunion
Aunt Agnes sits
across from me
swilling her pilsener
and asking the time.
She bums cigarettes
from Uncle Al
to wear in her
chiselled lips–
her death-mask face
of granite bone.
Reptilian eyes
size us up as prey
in the smoke-filled kitchen.
She laughs at jokes
that are not really funny
and scares the hell
out of me.