Poem dedicated to my late birth mother (Mama), birth father (Baba), adoptive mother (Mum) and stepfather (Gary).
Christmas in Heaven
Do they celebrate Christmas in heaven?
Do they shake hands? Hug? Bow?
Mum’s Chinese. Gary’s roaring laugh.
Who sits down first? Baba, the oldest of them all?
Mama insists they drink tea.
“Please eat!” they all would usher.
“No, no, no. You first!”
Embarrassed smiles? Tears of joy?
Two petite Chinese elders.
One big-bellied, bearded American.
One Jewish Mum.
All sit down to share
A festive family meal.
Clattering chopsticks
Clinking spoons.
Platters of roast duck.
One day I, too, will join them
Sit in the middle,
And toast them
In words understood by all.