There once was a lady

who had three beautiful daughters

And she loved each very much,

she said.

she raised them in a world of strife

Communist China was a mess

So she ran away to a safer place

To give them all better lives

But

one was left behind.

not forgotten, not accidentally

The lady had all intents

of returning

when she had money

when she had connections 

when she had opportunity 

she wrote to the girl

for the first few years 

I'll return when I have opportunity.

But time flew fast 

and eventually 

she had troubling remembering 

her long gone past.

her other daughters lived well

wed and loved their own families 

and the lady, now gray,

smiled with wrinkles 

at her girls who had grown so nicely,

She looked at a mirror

when she looked at them

they were smart and pretty and happy

so was she.

One day a woman showed up at the old lady's door

she was smart and pretty and unhappy 

but when the old lady looked at her face 

she saw nobody at all 

The mysterious woman,

her eyes sparkling,

Asked in broken english

the same phrase

that she had practiced everyday 

for decades,

voice wavering 

body shivering

In the hot humid weather

"did you never have opportunity?" 

 

My grandmother was never really good 

at keeping promises.