every weekday around noon
in the livingroom

dad streams voice of america
in khmer through his laptop

while mom has foodnetwork
in english on the tv

both set at the same volume
loud

we all watch the tv

but they only hear the khmer
until an ingredient or technique
needs to be clarified

and i hear the english
until a familiar word or phrase
catches my ear

and we finally spend
a few fleeting moments
in shared space
seeing and hearing
the same things