The smile of breaking

Beating back laughter and happiness
Over torn bread
Dull thunks of meat
The jolly butcher pounds
his lump of flesh

jawbone at an obscure angle
Mummy normally looks pretty in red
an organic bib blooming,
growing larger by the second

Mushmouthed words
I ove ou oys e stong
(I love you boys be strong)
thunk, thunk, thunk
The hammering continues,
Jolly butcher smiles
mummy looks like Quasimodo

The butcher asks, maniacally
"choose your cut of lamb, madam'e?"
Screams of you bastard sound more like
Oo astard
A final thunk, mummy goes to sleep

The butcher continues talking
In
Punctuated
Psychobabble
To his cowering meat
"Be happy coz the best cuts are well beaten
and pounded"

He looks down on my brother and I,
both small tender cuts of lamb
and says simply

"I do it coz I love you.
Which one is next?
Hurry on I have a lot of work to do today
gotta tenderize that meat"