HIDE YOUR PEARLS FROM THE PIRATES
dear mom,
i’ve never been there
but you have
did you like it?
maybe not
because your parents took you and your siblings
and you ran away
on a boat.
dear mom,
it was claustrophobic,
you say
it was scary,
you say
you hid your pearls beneath your hair
you could not
b
r
e
a
t
h
e
when they came in
you didn’t know they would look like that
so normal,
you thought
pirates are real,
you say
and maybe we’re all just ordinary
in extraordinary ways.
dear mom,
you were only seven
or eight
or maybe
even
six.
dear mom,
your parents took you to america
for more opportunities
my parents (that’s you, by the way) took me to a small suburb
so i would be safe
so, thanks for that
dear mom,
do you realize that i’ve never been there?
i should clarify
there means two places
china and vietnam
what’s it like there?
if i go to beijing, will i wear an oxygen mask just
to walk the streets?
if i go to vietnam, will i know what war is like?
dear mom,
we’re american,
you say
chinese and vietnamese, too
but i’ve lost those traditions
sorry
—from 2020 Rattle Young Poets Anthology
__________
Why do you like to write poetry?
Allison Wong: “I like to write poetry because it’s possibly the most human way of expressing myself. It can be as simple or complex as I want, and it’s still beautiful no matter what.”
