Asian Parent Standards
My mother tells me
A good boyfriend
Should be 5 foot 9 –Dad’s height-
At the very least
A minimum 2300 on SATs
Speak two languages, know how to fight and study
To be a doctor, lawyer, engineer;
And be Chinese because everybody knows
White people have big noses; subjugate minorities
And Koreans beat their women
And don’t even get me started on the
Japanese and the hei ren and Josés
Go out with them
Get out of family-
Do you want to give your poor old grandma a heart attack?
A Chinese man is honest hardworking
Good-looking, ambitious
Mature and smart
A man like your father-
A Chinese man will bring you happiness-
And what about love? I ask
My mother looks away
For a minute
Before answering
What about it?
Wish upon A
Suspended in air
like stars in space, bright
translucent creatures from the moon
wiggling their tentacles
back and forth
swimming through an ocean
of dark matter
they creep, majestically
silently- avoiding all, hunters and hunted alike
can’t they fly? Floating
glowing jellies in space,
waving hellos and goodbyes
at satellites and pet dogs
discarded engines and fuel cartridges orbiting slowly
forever caught in gravity’s grasp
only the moon jellyfish, elegantly piercing the stars as they wiggle through meteorites
eternally dancing
to the slow hum of the universe shrinking and expanding
Every night I ask them
what stars are made of
reach up for a sting of their pale, alien knowledge
only to have them whisper back
not yet, you’re not meant to know
before bursting into lights and falling
upwards into the sky
Manly
If I were a boy
I would learn karate and kung-fu and boxing
and the art of ass-kicking
wear animal print boxers
and heavy metal band tees-
suits and ties when ordained-
eat half my weight
in fried chicken and
I wouldn’t buy lipstick, mascara,
dresses with summery floral prints,
or worry about getting pregnant
or a pimple
or anything at all
and everything would be so damn easy-
If I were a boy
I could walk myself home
on dark moonless nights
open my own doors
to the future and
talk to my father
about things
only sons understand-
convince him he doesn’t regret
the abortion that shouldn’t have
but was
because sometimes two heads
just aren’t always better than one.
Nancy Wei
Age 17, Grade 12
Hunter College High School
Silver Key