For whatever it is worth

A Smoke Break at the Nuclear Command

We multitask chop, grill, wok, and pickle.

They are fickle, can come all hours, drunk,

after sex, before meetings, during greetings;

hucksters, gangsters, no telling who wants what

stir-fried, steamed rock cod with its head and bulbous eyes.

My father at the meat block hacks spareribs, carves bone from chicken,

mince onions, six sons chow the mein, French-fry the sausage,

whip the gravy, beat the eggs until you can fool the young

into thinking that’s sperm yanked from a calf.

Smoke signals say the pork chops are burnt,

the white sauce turning yellow and the waitresses ladle the soup.

Sounds like feeding at the zoo. Chopsticks tingle from a corner booth.

On and on motors start and stop, door open and shut, ice water

set down as menus are tossed. You need a minute? Mom is helping the girls to wash

glasses and tea pots. It would be sinful to run out of hot mustard during the rush.

My father drinks my coffee and I smoke his Marlboro,

Two cowboys in cattle drive fending off rustlers, and damn!

The waitress says that the women’s toilet has overflowed!

We are going to go fishing as soon as our mental breakdowns are over with.

And we are going to take a smoke break from the nuclear command.

Just then a party of 12 comes in – well, put two tables together,

like a man joining a woman, the yin and yang, and kids with yo-yo’s.

We are family doing family business, money for school books,

Mom’s dentures.

Koon Woon

Circa 2006