THE ANNUAL BIRTHDAY BBQ BASH 2010

Don’t the years go quick?
It’s another birthday BBQ
It’s that time of year again
When acquaintance is renewed

When family and friends
Come affably together
To eat a hearty meal outdoors
And sod the English weather

The beer and wine is chilled
The buffet has been prepared
The BBQ is well alight
No planning has been spared

So everything is set fair
Most of the guests are here
But never wanting to be the first
Ted and Rene are last to appear

So a brace of Ted’s, a pair of Paul’s
Tina and Becky, Rosemary and Rene
Not to forget Gordon and Wendy
Were all assembled at the scene

I should also mention the children
As they are part of the family
But we kept them locked away
And they were forgotten easily

We sat in the quiet shade
Beneath the big gazebo
Erected against the expected rain
That thankfully failed to show

At last its time to eat
And excitement is running high
As everyone stood up
Tina poked Rosemary in the eye

And what did the assailant do
When seeing the result of this act
Was she humbly apologetic?
No, she laughed out loud in fact

Then suddenly a disaster occurred
Unrivalled at any previous year
And the nature of this calamity
We were running out of beer
So a quick dash out in the car
To the “Happy Shopper” store
And hopefully unnoticed
Return to home once more

I returned and an eerie hush descended
Silencing the function
But nothing sinister occurred
It was simply quiet consumption

When the pudding plates were empty
And glasses were refreshed
The dishwasher could be heard
Washing away the mess

The afternoon passed nicely by
In comfortable affability
With moments of silliness
And not a small amount of frivolity

Tina with hand outstretched
With a ruby ring on her finger
Like the time of her engagement
“Oh look see the light linger”

As usual on these occasions
The cat got all the attention
Not the birthday boy and BBQ chef
I just thought that I would mention

And when enough alcohol was drunk
Tea and coffee arrived instead
Not that anyone got smashed
Only a glass, and that was Ted

There were uninvited guests
Flies and wasps descended
But traps were set for the Jaspers
And one got decapitated

All too soon the time had come
For folk to wend their way
And fond fairwells were said
Until we meet on another day

Then came the time to draw a breath
And reflect on the festivity
Then open another can of beer
And say happy birthday to ME