BALLAD Poem: mahjong, by Leah Zhu

the desire to protect your treasure
then be forced to give it up
in exchange for something more valuable
mahjong is negotiation

with endless patterns
and possible solutions
you work with what you get
mahjong is cooperation

to sit with family
play a competitive
but intimidating game
mahjong is connection

cool tiles with iconic symbols
north, east, south, west–
běi, dōng, nán, xī
one, two, three, four–
yī, èr, sān, sì
they go clink. clink. clink.
mahjong is Chinese

Author: poetryfest

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