She begins, and my grandmother joins her.
Mother and daughter sing like young girls.
If my father were alive, he would play
his accordion and sway like a boat.
I've never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace,
nor stood on the great Stone Boat to watch
the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickers
running away in the grass.
But I love to hear it sung;
how the waterlilies fill with rain until
they overturn, spilling water into water,
then rock back, and fill with more.
Both women have begun to cry.
But neither stops her song.
–Li-Young Lee
"I Ask My Mother to Sing," copyright © 1986 by Li-Young Lee. Reprinted from ROSE, poems by Li-Young Lee, with the permission of BOA Editions, Ltd.
A. fond memories.
B. tragic events in the past.
C. the father riding on a boat.
D. waterlilies made of stone.
A. poet.
B. grandmother in the poem.
C. young girl.
D. mother in the title.
A. the mirroring effect of water in a lake.
B. raindrops falling into waterlilies.
C. water falling from a waterlily into a lake.
D. raindrops falling into a lake.
A. It is written in verse form.
B. It is very short.
C. It tells about people singing.
D. It tells an interesting story.