I find my Dad’s stooped forward posture here
 and my Mom’s tightly accounting lips as well.
 Their every gesture and tone of voice
 every feeling and judgment and way of seeing
 all of it in my rulebook for betraying the magic
 that’s right here in the splashing of soapy water.
  
 But this boat-person Vietnamese Monk goes on to tell us
 how the store room contains all of our interconnections
 every star-born atom flowing through us,
 letting us off the hook of ever being a separate self. 
                              2019