Lantern Review: A Journal of Asian American Poetry
Issue 2 | Winter 2011

Aimee Suzara

My Mother's Watch

I.

My mother's watch:
a two-toned, gold-band Rolex.
Small, moon-like face encased in
curve of heavy glass—
time measured without numbers.

At the palengke in the rural province
I say
Mom, that's too flashy.
someone might try to rob you.
I heard that Tito R. got stabbed in a dark alley
near the house in Manila
for a fake Rolex
with a too-shiny gold band.

Its tiny hands tick time
almost imperceptibly.

Doesn't she notice
no one else in the palengke
is wearing a real Rolex?
Instead, pseudo-American logos tattoo polyester tee shirts,
old housedresses fade in the humidity.
Doesn't she notice
shifty gazes from low-moving youngsters

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