May 2023

Challenged

MessThat’s what it feels likeYour life at the moment Problem after problemEven thoughYou’re already tired Drama after dramaEven thoughYou’ve asked for none of them Tired of tryingTired of fixingTired of everything You cannot do it anymoreYou cryThis is too much to bear ButHold on a secondI have a question Have you ever got stuckIn a […]

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Strawberry Shortcake

In this memory, I am four years old. My little brother turns one in the month of June, and my mother prepares a special meal and a cake for his birthday. Though she is not into baking like some of my friends’ mothers, she has a few cakes she can bake well, and she bakes

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A Foreign Country

I am four years old in this memory. One day, my mother tells me that one of my close playmates and her family are going to somewhere called America. “America?” I repeat blankly. I have heard of America before. In the English program for kids that I watch every day on TV. But it has

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Perfectionism

This isn’t good enoughIt is good It has to be flawlessFlawless? I don’t want to be disappointedYou’ve already been disappointed I don’t want to be rejectedYou’ve already been rejected – more than once I don’t want to be hurtYou’ve been hurt – and you’re still here I’m scaredAre you? I guess I’m doing itUh-huh I’m

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Rescue

It was when I was in grade 5. One afternoon, my class was discussing the plan for the upcoming end-of-the-term party. We listed all the games we wanted to play, decided who would facilitate the party, and the order in which we would do each activity. As was customary, “the teacher’s concluding remark” was added

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Secret Candies

In this memory, I am four years old. In October, my little brother goes through another heart surgery. Since my parents’ full attention needs to go to my brother, I am sent to my maternal grandmother’s house in the countryside for a few weeks. My father and I travel there together by a bullet train,

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Art of Nothing

Sitting outside in the sunDoing nothingOther than existing Forgetting who I amBlending into this dayAs it unfolds The warmth of the sunThe comfort of a breezeMelt on my skin The fragrance of spring flowersThe chirping of birdsMelt my face Now, I cannot stop smilingFor no reason except thatI am happy

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