Beef Noodles

I never chew just swallow
It's bad luck if you do.
Swimming in a porcelainpool
Blue and white trees; ancient pagodas

A sauna of steam rolls upand around
Asian hills shaded like curlicues
Hold the deep roots ofintricate bonsais

I inhale the hot ancient mist,
Fog that envelops thecore
Of Chinese tradition.

Tender seasoned meat
Floats atop a poolof
Ethnic life.
Biting into its fiery inside
Reveals again the complexsmoke
Calligraphy in air

This perpetual artifact
Sitting atop mydining-room table
Preserves my waning sense of culture
All I have to do islearn
Mother's recipe.