car ride with my mother
Sabrina Mei
a poem by Sabrina Mei
bà ba wanted to write stories
do you think he is doing this for himself
glass marbles quiver still
a grasshopper's leg could break its calm
how her small frame bears the strength of
blackened teeth that tear at bone
stained with foreign blood blessed in foreign blood i hide
the traces etched in me too well
mandarin stumbles off my tongue like an apology
i am sorry this Dream has skinned away
the parts of you that are not
in me i didn’t know
my father used to write
stories i can’t read his words pared by cold
blade lost in a chasm of unspoken truths and
road trip silences
i think of peppers that hang above
the kitchen doorway crescent moons dipped in chili oil
how long have they been there i watch them
search for home in sterile supermarket aisles
everything has been for you
"car ride with my mother" observes the fragile thread that strings first-generation immigrants to their children, and the painful weight of sacrifice that will linger in generations to come.
Biography:
Sabrina Mei is a junior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, MD. Her work has previously been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, John Hopkins University, Montpelier Arts Center, and the Yellow Barn Studio. In her spare time, she enjoys rereading Sherlock Holmes and watching an objectively excessive amount of cooking videos. You can find her on instagram @s.abrinamei.