Poets logo

Cold Chinese Food

A poem on grief, realization, and the pain of a forgotten childhood.

By E.B. Johnson Published 4 years ago • 1 min read
Cold Chinese Food
Photo by Dmitry I on Unsplash

everyone grimaces when i say

to them that i like to eat my

Chinese cold.

how could you do it? they ask,

their faces in horror. i say,

it is inheritance.

my mother taught me to do

it. a quick treat if you can’t

leave the couch

for your grief and rage. it

took a lifetime of sad faces,

blank stares for

me to realize that they aren’t

horrified by the icy food.

they’re saddened

by the little girl who could

not rely on her mother

for a hot meal.

© e.b. johnson 2023

sad poetrysurreal poetry

About the Creator

E.B. Johnson

I like to write about the things that interest me.

Enjoyed the story? Support the Creator.

Subscribe for free to receive all their stories in your feed.

Subscribe For Free

Reader insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment
    Written by E.B. Johnson