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Open Poetry #14
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Doing Dim Sum
| Open Poetry #14 |
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Doing Dim Sum |
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theLadypoet Member
since 2001-05-28
Posts 97Or USA |
Never in my life was I able to earn my mother’s approval. She was mother, no mom in this woman. She had seen me a scattered dozen times in 20 years. She came to visit and linger as I grew old enough to have a home to take her into. A few days…one or two days…a little while that grew into a panic of wondering if she would ever take her petty pickings and go home. My new husband and I and my children often went to China Town for dim sum lunch. “Delicate tidbits”…’little mouthfuls’. Carts pushed by, loaded with mysterious and mouth-watering amazements. I wanted her to like Mason. She didn’t. I wanted Mason to like her. He hated her. I wanted to impress my mother with my new marriage and security, silly dreamer. Fong Chong’s is a fragrant little place, where you are always warmly greeted and made to feel at home. Mason wheeled her chair into the room and everyone scrambled to make space. In the one quiet moment that happened she said, “This place smells.” Everyone shuffled themselves and put something into the conversation. We were regulars here. The waitresses began wheeling their laden carts, covered tins of enchanting bites that were just enough to tease. My daughter and I ordered things we thought my mother might like. Everyone was gleefully sampling the delicious food. And then another of those quiet moments, as she said, lip curled, fork fussily poking at the delectable choices on her plate, “What the hell is this stuff?” Taking a deep breath I offered up my wisdom on dim sum and its many forms. Hum bows, sticky rice, rice noodles, my favorite and my daughter’s. Each little piece of food was catalogued for her. Still the fork poked and the lip curled, as if she had discovered something nasty and not quite dead. Quiet moments. Never wish for that in a Chinese restaurant. A Chinese curse says “may you get what you wish for”. There it was, crystal and pure. Not one fork clanked, no child fussed. No waiter dropped a tray. My mother looked at her food and said, “This **** looks like a buncha dog guts…” We still go there, Molly and I. The husband became an abuser and an addict, destroyed my life and is long gone. My mother died and I did not know until the day after her funeral. “May you get what you wish for…” "A woman is like a tea bag, you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water..." Eleanor Rooevelt |
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| © Copyright 2001 Sherry Asbury - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Whoa...it takes a lot to dredge this up...and it is too "real" to be a fantasy, for who would want something they would never wish for? I applaud you.... |
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Watersign6 Senior Member
since 2001-05-25
Posts 823Hurricane,WV |
Ladypoet that had to be a hard one to write an i applaud you too |
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Mabel A. Dilley Senior Member
since 2001-03-17
Posts 859Seattle, WA, USA |
 Poof!! She's gone. Now we can enjoy our Dim Sum. What is the name of that little desert I like: rice, sticky and sweet. UmmHmm. Shalom...Mabel "I am not now that which I have been." |
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inot2B Member Elite
since 2000-09-18
Posts 2205Arkansas |
Yep, there is some people that can never be made happy unless they are making someone else unhappy. I do love the way this worked with the restaurant theme. Fortune cookies tell alot!! |
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Joyce Johnson
since 2001-03-10
Posts 9912Washington State |
May you and your daughter have nothing but good fortune cookies. You deserve them. Joyce |
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