I used to work in a medical clinic with two floors, and because of the equipment, there were a few compressed gas cylinders. One day, we were working when a noise started (it sounded like a whistle), and someone shouted, “It’s the gas; the clinic is going to explode!”
Tag: Queens Public Library
The Storms of Life
Life can be challenging in many ways. I remember the first time I came to New York. Finding a job was hard. I did not know much English or any people whom I could ask for help in the city.
How Did I Lose a Couple of Pounds?
I arrived in America 11 months ago.
The fact that I had no return ticket in my pocket made me feel lost and uncertain.
I do not know now, one year later, where I got the strength
to take that first step.
The Priceless Toy Gun
About 80 years ago, Indonesia was still colonized by the Dutch, as it was for 350 years. Although the Netherlands was a small kingdom, they outsmarted bigger countries like Indonesia, and took everything from Indonesia for their seafaring enterprises. The Dutch didn’t educate Indonesians, or build the country, like the British did whenever they invaded …
Please Don’t Call Me Suada
My name is Suada. I’m the youngest child in my family and the only girl. I had three older brothers, called Hajrudin, Senad, and Suad, who were 14, 12, and nine years older than me. My father named me after the youngest brother, Suad. It is the custom in our country that brothers and sisters …
My Friend from Bangladesh
My friend from Bangladesh is a nuclear technologist who works for the same company I work for as a medical assistant. I met him many years ago, and since then, we have established a good work partnership, as well as a friendship, which has granted us the freedom to talk about many topics, like sports, …
My Lost Pearl Bracelet
I have always thought of pearls as an icon of style, simplicity, and perfection. I’ve always loved pearl necklaces and bracelets. When I was picking out material for my wedding dress, I chose the material with pearl decorations. The pearls made me glow on that cold December day in New York. What made my bracelet …
A Tale About the Ghost of Bamboo
My family moved to the east of Taiwan-Hua Lie when I was a third-grade student. I spent 15 minutes each day walking along the lane to school. Halfway to school, there was a farmhouse surrounded by a bamboo forest and a harvested vegetable field. One late autumn morning, which was cloudy and windy, a classmate …
The Dark Truth
It’s so easy to tell someone a lie/ It’s so easy to say I love you from the lips./ It’s so easy to make false promises./ But to say the dark truth, sometimes we lose friends, we lose loved ones,/ The world may turn their back on us.
The Interview
I’m from Germany, and I lived the last 10 years of my life in Berlin. My wife, Naemeh, is from New York City. She was born and raised in Jackson Heights, Queens. We met in 2005 in Berlin at a massive techno club called Berghain, in Friedrichshain, East Berlin. It’s now a world famous club. …
I Stop for a Second
I stop for a second/ and I delight in the flashes/ of my aspirations, but then/ day by day, the demanding society/ chains me, enslaves me,/ to allow me to live in it.