Watching My Grandmother Eat Fish

like a cat
her once slim fingers
tear each morsel off
the bones
deliberately

Crouched, intent
between mouthfuls of rice
she informs me
that I used to snap off their tails
and with great care remove their skins
declaring the flesh boring

And I think how I know no other
like her really
living in her house of strangers
in a race where blood is most prized.

By Joanne Leow

_____