Summer vacation means work everyday
Chang Noi (Little miss mechanic) they called me
You can see my wrinkled eight years old hands
Holding the flash light for my dad
While he performed his magic touch
To heal the sick car so it can start running
and I’ll asked for my fare share he’ll spare
5 dollars a day, it was enough to make me happy
Skipping to wasted it all at the 98 cent store
A sense of power, I spent all my fortune
Out of luck, I felt it was best to save
Get a walkman groove to the melodies, I sing
while I scrubbed the toilet, dipping my finger tips
measuring the water, cooking rice for the hungry
Tummy of grown men I called ” Thie Gin Kau” ( Dad come eat rice!)
Summer vacation means work everyday
Early morning, my mom drives down the 170
Exit Vine and we arrive at “Siam garden”
My second home, my only playground.
my mother’s Incense swirled the spirits awoken
Nang Quak’s hands ready to pull in the customers
Parading in a festival of rushing orders
You can see my 12 years old veins popped out
As I lift the heavy trays , spilling the hot pot
Boiling soup burned my flesh, yet I forced a smile
“Here is your hot and sour soup!”
I dip my arms in cold water to hear
Frank our dish washer reminded me
“In Mexico, I have three mansion ”
Believe it or not, he was richer then my mother
who is guilty of breaking child labor laws.
working me over the summer while the sun smile
as I frown sweating to the oven heat.
Unlike other kids I liked school better then summer vacation
Summer vacation means work everyday
Four dollars an hour May said “next month a quarter raise”
I’m annoyed, but whatever it takes to make some green
When you’re limited of work at the age of sixteen.
May thinks I don’t have paper, she thought wrong
Though, I don’t know why I worked there for so long
Getting paid under table, it was better then none.
Her son Andrew ask me “ Are you going to college”
I stayed quite and decided to quit “ Good bye BBQ Express!”
Summer vacation means work everyday
I get to work 40 hrs a week, touching strangers all day
Scanning finger tips, getting lost in whorl of galaxies
I’ve worked here for three years, while going to school
Its not hard work, but a lot to remember, I forget
I’m at school for a degree, not just a government employee
The future lay at the palms of my hands,
yet I’m holding on to comfort in this nice office
Especially, my favorite weather channel window
Yesterday, my boss said “we are letting you go”
I’m lost feeling ” where do I go now?
my little hand has grown used to work
lifting, scrubbing, giving, typing,
now my hands lay resting on my lap
unemployed but emancipated from labor
