Ode to the Dysfunctional

Oh blessed chaos-makers,

Gathered round the dinner table like a jury with no verdict,

You argue over potatoes,

You weaponize old stories,

You love like it’s a sport with no referee.

Your text threads are battlefields,

Your group chats—cryptic war codes.

You keep score in invisible ink,

And yet…

Every crisis calls you back together

Like a stubborn boomerang of blood and history.

You teach us that love is not tidy,

That forgiveness is rarely poetic,

That some apologies come disguised as pie.

So here’s to you,

Bickering, blundering,

And bound by something too tangled to break.

May your quarrels stay loud,

Your hugs stay reluctant,

And your door—always, somehow—stay open.