a love letter to my mom -- poetry by Rebecca Yang

& a written confession that i can’t say

to your face because we both know

you wouldn’t understand.

instead, since my words are pleated 

by the countries between us 

& the differences marked by pockets

of silence, let me talk about your

hands, the ones that worked as 

a seamstress before i was born. kneading

cloth into dresses, your slender fingers

crafted delicacies into realities.

& selling those treasures into markets,

you scrapped knuckled pennies into

a ticket, hoping your dresses would 

bring you to those who wore them.

instead, you found your words pleated

into bite-sized no thank you, please,

& i’m sorry. sewn in a world renewed 

by my birth, let me talk about your 

hands, the ones that i’ve only seen

scrub dishes, back dipped over kitchen

sink, strands of hair falling between teeth

in a mouth that has forgotten its own hunger.

but you found a daughter who will accept

your offerings. let your hands weave her

hair into braids, deftly cup her cheeks in

one palm, the other to cover your eyes

from her shy, golden-dappled stare.

---

Rebecca Yang is a sophomore at Orange County School of the Arts, where she studies Creative Writing. Her work has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, and DePaul’s Blue Book: Best American High School Writing. You can find her poems in Elan Literary Magazine.