On The Tin Can

6.45am and a text from a ‘babe’ in Penang
Has me exclaiming 'WTF?'
Then shooting out of bed, into a pair of pants
And straight to the phone, where I spend the next hour or so
calling 5 different Penang numbers

We express incredulousness, confusion and ‘beh-tahanness’
Technology is amazing, so far yet so near
So near that in the middle of our seriousness
I say "Oh my god babes, I dreamt was shaving my legs last night
and now...they're not shaven"
then I think she tells me I am cacat
but we've established that.

You know what? Despite our worries and moaning,
In the end its relationships, different facets again
We may not know what goes on behind closed doors
And what doesn’t work for some, may be magic for others
We all have different needs after all

I go back to bed and loll with my book
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
I did like it. I’m glad Christopher made up with his Daddy

Then, another Penang call
It’s my mom, I tell her off for calling (‘spensive)
Then hang up and call her back

Mother has made me sad because she pointed out
(A point that is painfully true)
That in my two weeks home I
Spent more time with her than I had spent in years

And am so guilty of that
Because I lived on my own, and because of our ‘past’
I hardly saw my mom, nor made a point to when I lived in Penang

But this trip, I somehow spent all those
little bits in between meetings with her,
I showed up unexpected at her door, sought her
when I needed someone to help me with things

I sought her because I knew she would help me without question,
she would let me behave like a spoiled brat
Molly-coddling me while providing sisterly banter

And she said that because of this, when I left last week
She felt like she was losing her baby
that she misses me
Then mother got too emotional and I felt uncomfortable.

And I never found the time to tell her
That I am proud of her, that she’s been so good the past few months
That I am grateful.

Bantum aptly called me

‘A daughter to your father, a sister to your mother and
a mother to your sister’

Why don’t you all go give your mothers a hug huh? Since I can’t.
Maybe even your aunties (;