Mahjong Nightmare
/She vividly remembers
Those sleepless nights
Lying in bed, tossing and turning
As she tried to get some sleep
Before it was time for school
From the next room
The loud noise of people
gambling at mahjong,
the clicking of the pieces
mixed with outbursts of
laughing and cursing
lasted all night
in the morning
on her way to school
she passed through the room
filled with thick smoke from smoking
where they were gambling
Her father’s and other gamblers’ faces
Were transfixed around the mahjong table,
They did not even notice her going
When she returned from school
The gamblers were still there
It was as if they were nailed to the chairs,
The nightmare continued
Her father would call her
with bloodshot eyes
while staring at the mahjong table
asking her to buy food and drink,
She felt that they were addicted,
Gambling was their way of life
By Shih-Fang Wang
From: United States