One day
When I’m old, very old
I wish to walk into
The 24-Hour Fitness and find
A group of seven old Cambodian women
Sitting in the hot tub
I will smile at them
For I can’t help but smile
At an old lady when I see one
And there you have seven of them
So I’ll find a spot with a massage jet for my back
And join in their conversation
One of them will be standing with her hand on the railing
She’ll tell us about Pol Pot
The river crossing and the refugee camp
The resettlement in the Philippines
Her American sponsors in Idaho
And the first time she walked into a Wal-Mart
Another will talk about her son
Who earned a PhD at USC
Who has always made her so proud
Who now lives with his wife and her two grandchildren
Somewhere in the Bay Area
In a town she can’t remember the name of
The chubby one with the wicked face
Under her white shower cap
Will tell us about some monkey business and mischief
That’s taking place in her apartment complex
How many boys did this one girl kiss?
How many out of wedlock babies did that neighbor have?
The one who wears a one-piece-flower swimming suit
With black oversized shorts over it
She’s getting air in her shorts
It looks like she’s going to float
She’ll tell us how to prepare a good beef salad
With basil, garlic, chili pepper, lime juice and mint
The skinny one with ginger red curly hair
She sits on the edge of the tub
We see her hop in the shower
And just like that her hair becomes all straight
She’ll come back to sit with us
Clean the skin between her toes with her thumb and index finger
And out of nowhere
One would admit she took a lover
Forty years ago when her husband was working out of town
He had lady friends everywhere he went anyhow
She was just getting back at him
She was just getting even
Next to her sitting on the stairs and reading a book
The youngest and most timid of them all
She’ll pretend not to hear what she just heard
The other ladies will tease her
Ask her if she’s reading a love story
I know I’ll have my heart set on her
And when it is my turn to talk
This is what I would say to them
That I wish none of the muscle guys in the weight room
Will come and join us later in the whirlpool
For I’m a selfish old man
And I want to keep all of them to myself
One day
When I’m old, very old
If I bump into a group of old Cambodian ladies
At the 24-Hour Fitness pool
What shall I call them?
Shall I address them by E, Ming, Bong Srey, or Yeay?
When I’m old, very old
I’ll wish for a first-class airplane ride
To that special place where my soul can fly
Not anywhere but there
The hot tub where
Seven old Cambodian ladies sweat and perspire
*
* *
[Author’s note] E, Ming, Bong Srey, and Yeay
mean aunt, auntie, older sister, and grandmother respectively
in Cambodian and Teochew,
a Chinese dialect spoken in Cambodia.
