My tuition kid confided in me
And I wondered
It left like i was in p5 again
That listening ear to the pains of being so far away from home.
Despite how I stereotype them sometimes
And jeer along with my english-speaking friends
When i listen to them
Watch them struggle to improve
See blatant meaness dished out by the ppl leaving in their own homes
I realise that race, background, the vast language gulf that i usually abhor
Just vanish when I witness
Nothing but the humble human condition
Struggling to adapt
Refusing to die
Cuz what doesn't kill us does make as stronger
I cannot explain why children so privileged, with mothers of big hearts and welcoming arms,
can turn out so?
I cannot dismiss it as neglect, as i have often seen
Because i have simply not seen enough
Hence I cannot judge
I have seen many a parent's absence that can still
Breed good sense in sons

As i left i called the old friend of mine i was so strongly reminded of
I haven't talked to her in ages, despite her living
just in the next block
Her life, so different from my own
She spoke of husbands, children, the future
How we need to keep people close, as family are the ones that stay,
when friends leave
Her life, so simple right now
Not exactly the crazy, jam-packed one that i have
Yet, priorities
Are so clear, so certain.
Holding on the old ways,
The ones that have yet to fail
Except in my faith of them.