exchanging small talk by the spouting fountain
and some gossip here and there

mother endlessly harped on …
          papa brazenly announced …
                    Bassem was hoping we could finally …
          actually …
come to think of it …

Isn’t that funny?

I mean, naturally …

there wasn’t much to talk about
          and it was unpleasant when I think about it

but the hors d’oeuvre, as always, were exquisite
and the champagne, as always, was excellent

                    the orchestra was a tad much, though
          we definitely could have done without the cancan dancers
                    and, in retrospect,
it may have been a mistake to fire that cannon

Though, all in all, I must say, it was a rather successful affair.