Poem(3) Composed individually based on a story of Catherine Lim's Little Ironies

Lottery

Ah Boh, who was my

domestic helper
Loved gambling on Four Digits every week
Though she bet a small amount
Every bet was a bomb which was about to explode

She had an old mother
whose bones were glass which could break any moment
she complains that Ah Boh had a good salary
yet she was not given enough
Since Ah Boh have a good salary
Then where is all the money?

For all her years of being my servant
Despite my countless reminders
of the consequences of gambling
It fell upon deaf ears

She dreamed that she could hit it big one day
So she threw in big stakes
A few small prizes did come her way
But they were used up the next day
As if the money was flying away

One day, her dead husband gave her a sign
that this was the day luck came to her side
and rushed to an accident a street away
But she was in disbelief
When her mother was there
and had died in grief