the ham bone

when your mother,
for some unknown
reason, made
an enormous
boiling pot of split
pea soup
everyone groaned.
all seven children
rolled their
eyes as one, but
out of hunger you
sipped it
off a spoon,
grimacing.
there weren't
enough crackers
in the world
to make it
right.
then, of course,
there was the fight
for whatever
meat was left
to be sliced
off the ham
bone.