Mantra
Kathy Luo
They say,
work more, push more
you know you can always
do more
I say,
I know, I know, I know
I think if I heard those orders just
one more time,
my skin would turn to plastic
my eyes would glaze to glass
and I’d turn into a clock
run on cogs and ticks,
never miss a meeting again
no sleep, no dreams
just a charged battery,
and I’d run smooth and proud
like a perfect machine
but I woke up this morning
still a human being.
She says,
watch out for yourself take care of yourself
you need to stop loving everything but yourself
words from a mother’s mouth
because she was tired of sending off a daughter in the fall
and getting back a ghost by Christmas Eve
I say,
I know, I know, I know
I tell her, I was turning the other cheek
She says they already slapped that one.
I rub my face
and wonder if she’s right
do what I’m saying and
follow this road
don’t question these things I’m just
helping you grow
26 Spring 2018
Okay, I say,
I know, I know, I know
If only they knew
how little I know,
that the string I reply with
is just a plagiarized promise
it’s something I heard first
long ago
I say,
God, you wouldn’t believe
what happened today…
A voice:
I know, I know, I know.
Kathy Luo is a junior concentrating in English and Sociology.