day 18

Cotton bandages 3 meters long

I wished upon 5 centimeter meteorites for tradition to rewind

but tradition is dug skin deep

my mahjong culture has sunken through pale yellow skin

I should be golden

but golden skin is melted ore on dirt floors

It may be beautiful to you,

but it is dirty to my culture

It will stain the cotton bandages 3 meters long

that have become red carpet to fresh soles

I will learn how to walk

5 centimeters at a time

aware of the buckets of Bengal blood in the shoes

my tiger mother have made.

Our mahjong culture forces tradition into our brains

like pretty jade bracelets on pale yellow skin

It has traveled through generations like bright eyed meteorites

Soon,
this will all rewind,

these cotton bandages will be bound 3 meters too long

we will all forget how to walk