Liar

• Thuy Yen Nhi Nguyen, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2019

This day every year, he comes here and waits.
This day, this place, next to this merry-go-round,
His mother told him that she would come back soon.
Fifteen years pass, he even forgot her name,
Forgot her voice, her face, except her last promise,
She has never come back, she disappeared like the wind.
One day, two days, three days, he kept standing and waiting,
People said that he should follow them, that she’d left him already
At the time he fell, he knew they were telling the truth.
Fear, hunger, self-pity are all things he can remember
When he was walking past the windows of those warm houses,
Where children laughed in the arms of their parents.
“Mum, how much longer must I wait?”
This question has existed for years, but there’s no answer.
He opens his eyes, lets the wind blow away his tears.
This year, his mum didn’t come back, she’s still a liar