my mother can’t cook

anything too complicated

so after my father became ashes

sprinkled over soil,

my sister and i lived

on instant noodles & chicken nuggets,

chemically-combined meals

we consumed with our childhood,

swallowed whole

because it was easier

to convince ourselves

we were– are– unaffected

by the tree that grows from the dust

of our dad, slowly climbing

in length as I transform

from...