I hope she never comes back

When my mother used to disappear for a week at a time I would make bean sprout soup for my father using dried anchovies as the base for the stock No one said a word about her not being there not my 2 older brothers Nor my father At dinner time he is lost in the kitchen And the lump in his throat barely weighs the same as the stones in my stomach The swallowing made easy by the bean sprout soup wondering if this time she is gone for good I will make the rice, the soup do the dishes, the laundry I hope she never comes back so she can have a life without drawn out hours of bruises on the body that a daughter will see as she steps out of the shower And a job where she no longer has to work 12 hours a day on her feet and then come home to clean the house and make bean sprout soup I hope she never comes back