[Intro: piano loop, rice cooker click, spoken] Okay, Lola. Ready? Card one. (her) Anak, I was born ready. Turn the rice down first. [Verse 1: tender, clear storytelling] Rubber band around the deck gone soft from all the shuffling Rice cooker clicks to warm, the TV in the back is mumbling She's seventy and change, her readers on a beaded chain Answers in Tagalog first, then she says it plain again Name a right in the Declaration? Life, she says, and liberty And the pursuit of happiness, right after you wash the dishes for me Thirty years of hospital night shift, mopping halls and changing sheets Spoon-fed half the grandpas in this county, sang them all to sleep And some would ask her where she's from with pudding on their chin She'd say, here, sir, open up, and spoon it in [Hook: sung, warm female soul vocal] Flash it again, apo, flash it again I know the answer, I just like the way you ask Rubber band soft and the kitchen light thin Flash it again, flash it again Who's the father of our country? (Washington) Who's the reason that I'm here? (Him) [Verse 2: slower, heavier] These ain't new, these were Lolo's, check the backs in blue ballpoint His handwriting leaning forward like it couldn't wait to make the point He studied every night that winter while the oxygen machine hissed Had the interview in April circled twice so it wouldn't be missed (spoken) He passed in March. Not the test. Him. So now she takes his test, his cards inside her purse At night she reads the questions to his empty chair, the answers first [Double-Time: interview day, crisp and fast] Interview morning she is up before the rooster in the Sunday dress and the brooch that Lolo bought her with his very first paycheck in this country Federal building, metal detector beeping at the rosary, she apologizes to the guard like Mary is a weapon in her purse Officer is younger than my cousin, asks her what's the Bill of Rights, she tells him every one like she is reading him a recipe for pancit Asks her why the flag has thirteen stripes, she says the colonies, and also it is pretty, and he almost laughs, and I am dying in the hallway I'm in the waiting room with Lolo's cards, I'm shuffling and bargaining with every saint she ever taught me, I am sweating through my collar Then the door swings open and she's holding up a paper with a smile so wide the guard says ma'am, she says sir, I passed, and it is not just mine [Hook: sung, warm female soul vocal] Flash it again, apo, flash it again I know the answer, I just like the way you ask Rubber band soft and the kitchen light thin Flash it again, flash it again Who's the father of our country? (Washington) Who's the reason that I'm here? (Him) [Verse 3: warm, slower, piano opens up] Oath day in a high school gym, folding chairs, a paper flag She holds it like a wooden spoon, Lolo's cards still in her bag A hundred hands go up at once, a hundred different homes She says it half a beat behind, the way she prays the rosary, slow Home, she tapes the little flag to Lolo's picture on the shelf By the candle and the coffee that she pours him for himself Says, done, now you can rest, you lazy man, I did it for us both Then she slides the deck across to me and says, again, like an oath [Final Hook: sung, warm female soul vocal, strings up] Flash it again, apo, flash it again I know the answer, I just like the way you ask Rubber band soft and the kitchen light thin Flash it again, flash it again Who's the father of our country? (Washington) Who studied every card for me? (Him) [Outro: piano loop, spoken] Card one. Again. (her) Again. I like when you ask.
