Clarifying, or I wish I were a better daughter
My mother washes
the wax from
my hair
in the kitchen sink,
her hands at work
again. I think
the showers are
too weak
in our new house,
or else I am too weak,
letting water pass
right through me
and leaving shampoo
to sticky my hair.
I spend a lot of time
thinking about
the years
I have lost to
keeping myself
together,
but with my chest
curled into the tallness
of the sink, I smell
that old translucent
yellow shampoo
and its pure-water gentleness:
I am still
a child at twenty-one,
letting my
mother
rub circles
into my scalp.
Noreen Ocampo (she/her) is a Filipina American writer and poet based in metro-Atlanta. She studies English, film, and media at Emory University and currently writes for COUNTERCLOCK and {m}aganda magazine. She is also a regular contributor for Marías at Sampaguitas. Say hi on Twitter @maybenoreen!