C, C, B, C, B reads his report card
F, F, F, F, F his parents read
They go on
About how they toil
And about their lives
Not realizing he is
Not listening

Yes,
His parents want
Him to succeed
They left familiarity
A place called home
Palm trees
The perpetual hustle
The ongoing bustle
To live in the unknown
They endured
Constant ridicule and strife
Yes,
They know how funny
Their accents sound
They can’t help their lack
Of elaborate speech
Yes,
They sometimes eat curry
No,
Curry is not soup
It’s their soul food
The red hot spice
The tenderly cooked meat
It is comfort
Yes,
It smells strange
To you
They know that
No one
Has to remind them
Of how it smells
No,
They don’t own
A 7-11 or
Work Microsoft’s tech support
They are hard working
Americans
Working alongside your parents
Wanting only the best for their child
Yes,
They want their
Kids to become doctors
To work hard
To succeed
To do the things
They only could dream about
Because when the kids
do great things
The parent can hold
Their head up high
And say,
That’s my kid
Yes,
We’re different

A, A, A, A
He and his parents read
He straightens up
And listens to the story
Of their life
His heritage