Inkling 2025 - Flipbook - Page 4
The Accent
of Love
by Jasmine Dong
My mother sucks rigid pieces of a 昀椀sh head
She says “love is sacri昀椀ce”
Not spoken, but sliced into fruit and set down again
Not spoken, but cracked through crab shells.
Her bleeding 昀椀ngers, a shield from my own pain
Not spoken, but nestled into red envelopes on my birthday
In this Western land of “I love you’s”
My words are foreign like an alien
Strange and unspoken,
Lost in translation
It took me 10 years to realize
Love is the breeze on a hot summer day,
Silent but never unfelt
It is felt through neverending labor
The neverending labor of my parents that brought us to this country
The neverending labor of my grandparents that raised this family
The neverending labor of an immigrant family that forged this life from sacri昀椀ce
I sit across from her
And eat the tender meat of the 昀椀sh
Her love speaks like an echo between us
An irreplaceable language 昀椀lled with sacri昀椀ce, hard work, and resilience.
Jasmine is the 1st
place winner in the
Poetry category
for this year’s Teen
Writing Contest.
4 | INKLING 2025
