This poem was first published in Firelight Issue Four.

Image by Yinan Chen from Pixabay.

***

One day, 

We will eat Chinese food, 

Face to face, 

Sauce and smiles on our lips. 

We will be free of 

The hard shell of expectation, 

No longer drowning in 

A yolk thicker than water. 

We will breathe easy in 

A silence not as taut as a wire, 

A soft silence, 

A comforting silence, 

Which waits for us to fill it. 

One day, 

We will eat Chinese food, 

Face to face,

Sauce and smiles on our lips, 

I promise.