Morsel of fire-kissed stir-fried greens
Tossed, unmissed through clouds of steam
Hissed as they dished in the wok, has been
A familiar sight preceding my teens

Pungent odour of fine-diced onion
Swamped my eyes with spicy tears
Flickered like dim lights in oblivion
But flew wide open at my worst fears–

“Asian man, 60, stabbed in the back”
One more harsh reality smack
Perhaps he was bad, deserved this attack
Or was another song in hate’s soundtrack

“You lai” (Yet again), said Mom as she let out a sigh
And shook her head from left to right
Why are we attacked in broad daylight
And forced to live in fight or flight?
                                                                                                                                                                                      Fought with thoughts of distraught-
What caused our defeat?
“Di Tou Guo Sheng” (Bow head down to live), once taught
Preached to us retreat

Once in the interest of ours
Silence now costs the lives of our elders
Strips our children of their powers
Never survives but only surrenders.

It is not a sound virtue
That shields us from Auntie’s judgement
It is a killer that pursues
Til’ doomed death has its moment

So unlearn the rooted lessons
Of generational conformities
Break the chain of staunch successors
Of silent model minorities

Speak for the voiceless
Weakened by soulful cries
Those bounded by Asian silence–
the common killer vice.