Not quite acculturated
And she was unsympathetic
That doctor
That immigrant doctor
I heard she told a patient
"You're too fat."
This was whispered
In accents of pleased shocked horror
She came to dinner
That unsympathetic doctor
Southeast asian
Told a little of her story
To my wide eyed children
When she was 10
They were boat people
Escapees
Refugees
Pirates caught them
Real pirates
"They weren't so bad," she said
"We were about to die from lack
of food and water
Though we heard other stories
that were very bad."
My daughter could imagine the boat.
She moved to my lap.
The pirates were too real.
Perhaps plenty is not always taken
for granted
And sympathy is a matter of degree.