dear mom:

Dear mom:

How did you feel

When you first arrived?

The first footprint

On American linoleum

Slick with the sweat

And dreams

Of those before you

Dear mom:

How did you feel

Attending your first lecture?

The first class

Taught in a language

So foreign, so fast

You found solace in

Math and numbers and consistency.

Dear mom:

How did you feel

When people copied your accent?

The first time

Their voices leered

It stung and burned

And you swore your children

Would never feel the same

Dear mom:

How did you feel

Sending me off to school?

The first child

In a foreign land

Of PTO meetings and

Floors of linoleum

Much like the arrival

Dear mom:

How will you feel

When I go to college?

A new page

Of an unwritten book

Far easier for me

Filled with the advice of

Those (you) before me.