Balikbayan Box

My mom started working overseas
way back when I was a child.
Every time she came home,
She gives us presents imported form abroad.

She works in Bosnia,
a domestic helper there.
For more than a decade's passed,
She came home nd left weeks after.

Last time she came home,
I asked her a question.
"Ma, if I do good in school, give me a reward huh?"
She nodded and smiled.

She promised to us before leaving,
that if I get high grades,
She'll go home with more goodies
right inside a bigger box.

Months later, she called and asked,
"How's my son doing?"
"I am an honor student ma!",
I gleefully exclaimed.

She promised me a lot of clothes,
New pair of shoes and a computer.
Weeks later, war broke out in Bosnia.
Gunshots and bombing everywhere.

No news ever reached us.
When her expected date of arrival came,
all we saw was this big box and smaller boxes.
It contained my mom, and her gifts.

-jkdeqz- 02/19/09