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Anna Lee Poem
My curfew according to my mom is, “before the sun goes down!”
She never gives me the time to meet with friends and hang around
My dad on the other hand lectures me in Korean
He still doesn’t realize that I literally cannot understand him
He might as well be talking in Japanese and his english is ‘berry weak’
These are the reasons why we don’t really speak
Dinner’s always the same, no taco Tuesday or leftover Monday involved
Every meal is eaten with rice- but one time we had mashed pot- just kidding that’s never happened at all
Brown rice, white rice, skinny rice, fat rice, guess we got some variety there
Mom says, “Be grateful, there are starving children everywhere”
Come to think of it, a family meal at McDonald’s is something we’ve never had
Guess that means all my meals are very sad
Neither parent wants to give me the independence that I need
But I won’t complain for I’m afraid mother will hit me
Like a bird I want to explore the world
But my strict Korean parents clipped my wings- they might be disturbed
So I spend my time visualizing the world through the T.V.
Never had cable cause cable’s ‘not pree’
Netflix is what I got, a blessing I love having
Bob’s Burgers, Parks & Rec, and The Office keep me laughing
My mom finds it annoying, my dad doesn’t get the puns
He’s always asking me how people sitting in an office can make me laugh so much
On another note, high school parties, are wild and pretty cray
I wouldn’t know, I’ve never gotten an invite, but my parents would never let me go anyways
I check the snapchats of my friends, they’re out bowling at 1:35 am
If it weren’t for my parents, then I would be out with them
No matter what I do, my parents just can’t see
That they’re Kim Jong Un and I’m a helpless North Korean trying to break free
Copyright © Anna Lee | Year Posted 2016
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Details |
Anna Lee Poem
What if I spent my life making people laugh so hard they'd fall over and cry
Then surely my parents would laugh but then fall over and break down to cry
What if I followed my passion and learned to speak what's on my mind
Then surely my parents would speak for me and tell me I have a doctors mind
I also have the wisdom of a lawyer they consistently repeat
But not the heart of a teacher because they don't make enough money
So how do I tell my parents I want to get into comedy TV
Immigrant parents who can't see that as a sustainable reality
They didn't come here so I could just throw it all away
Everything they worked so hard for how can I toss it down the drain
Disapproving of the risk I want to take to reach my dreams
But what about the risk they took 30 years ago for me
My aspirations don't make sense to my mother who had nothing growing up
She knows the pain of having not enough to eat, she doesn't believe in luck
My father works hard for a small paycheck, it's hard for a man of much pride
He asks why I'm putting myself in that same situation, he knows what it's like to hide
I've pondered those same situations, the thought of constantly not havin'
But then again what would happen if I didn't follow my passion
If I didn't wake up every morning excited to start a new day
If I wasn't able to work with a genuine smile on my face
Like a game of "Would You Rather" I contemplate two difficult decisions
A job for financial stability or a career in which I can live in my most beautiful visions
Copyright © Anna Lee | Year Posted 2016
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