Poem for my Boyfriend on Meeting the Family at Christmas

christ is a stray cat 

the same icy stream of chart hits, 

crass terry cast as a sham star.

my sister is as scary as 

her armchair, 

her ashtray heart. 

my sister is a miser, mister    

she hit the sherry stash 

car crash  

i mime my heartaches                                                              

they match my shame                                                              

this is my crime. 

raise a cherry cream. 

stay. 

Julia Ruth Smith is a teacher, mother and writer of small things. She lives by the sea in Italy. She has recently been published in Sledgehammer Lit, Full House Literary Magazine, Anamorphoseis Mag, Tattie Zine, Skirting Around and others. Exaggerated and emotional, she’s on Twitter @JuliaRuthSmith1 She/her.