Big Uncle

My brother and I quietly climb up
long marble steps
that seem like three
but are really two
flights of stairs.
The house is sleepy around noon
and warm snores rumble.
Everyone is napping,
except us
and Big Uncle.
We are in his small room
lying on our stomachs, on the thin bedcovers
watching Tom and Jerry,
our fingers sticky from
holding containers of
the purple taro ice cream that Big Uncle likes.
“It tastes funny,” my brother says
in English, thinking Big Uncle won’t understand.
I watch the TV and elbow him in the ribs –
Eat the ice cream anyway.

by Kiana Lin
11th grade, Kahuku High School