Garnish

I am eleven and proud
Of my baking and cooking
Skills with apple pies, oven
Baked chicken and burgers,
Breakfast fare I am limited
To pancakes and waffles.
Our father cautions us that
Bacon is a garnish and not
A meat but we like bacon,
At Grandma and Grandpa’s
House we observe that the
Breakfast comes with lots of
Bacon and sausages so we help ourselves and enjoy the feast.
Our father is not happy with us
As we make bacon, jam and
Toast sandwiches with lots
Of bacon and huge smiles.
Grandma says it is OK and
When we are done she sends
Us out to play on the swing
Outside the kitchen window
Where she does dishes and
Watches us having fun
On an enormous two seat
Swing set suspended from
A wooden frame where we
Sit two or three per side and
Glide back and forth in the
Shade of trees making
Our own cooling breeze.
There is no air conditioning
In houses in the 1950s,
When sitting at a table
Reading or playing games
We put a metal bowl of
Ice in front of a fan to
Cool ourselves or mist
Each other down with
A plant mist sprayer.
I am curious about
Grandpa’s pack of dogs,
I ask Grandma if the
Hunting dogs penned
In the back of the yard
Can come inside the
House to play but
She replies that
When you lay
Down with
Dogs you
Get up
With
Fleas.