My Hobo Mother Poem by Jackie Chou

my heart died the day
we moved into our first home in America

mom took off her bra
in the middle of the living room
and flung it to the floor

that moment i knew she was no queen
i was no princess

there would be no chandelier
no family dinners around a table

soon she stopped bathing
dandruff collected in her matted hair
roaches colonized every corner
of the condo

i wished for a rich dad
who could give us a beautiful life
she told me i would not have been born
but somebody else