Ideas to Inspire

How you must have dreamed,

most venerable father,

of the perfect yomesan

who would bow deeply before you each morning,

hand you the steaming, milky miso soup

with ribbons of konbu dancing in the broth

and open your drapes

to chase away the insecurities of aging.

You had three sons,

a lucky number,

surely, one of them would bring her home,

the daughter-in-law of your dreams.

Instead, eager to break the mold

of your nisei expectations,

they brought home only gaijin

or worse, the half-breeds,

poi dogs with Japanese faces

and katonk aspirations

of moving in the fast lane in the big city.

But how well you have adapted,

most aged father,

to eating lasagna with your rice,

poi with your sashimi,

and brushing away cobwebs

of past dreams

with lauhala fans

made by your mongrel grandchildren.

–CKI, Intersecting Circles: the voices of hapa women in poetry and prose