Someone came up with a lyric using the tune of Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind (http://www.youtube.com/...) to tell Ping Fu's story.
Update: More stanzas to the lyric. A 2nd poem added about Ping Fu's Rambo slapping episode.
Somone came up with the following lyrics:
I plan to use the music of Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' In The Wind' (http://www.youtube.com/...). If someone is interested, let's write this together. Just add your lines. I've only got this much:
How many dishes must Mama serve
Before she can call it a night?
The answer is twelve, followed by a soup
Cause there was nothing more she could do.
How many years must one stay married
Before her green card is safe?
The answer is three, exactly is three
That's when she sent him away.
How many horses must the Red Guards have
To murder a teacher at school?
The answer is four, emotionally four
That's what bad dreams told Ms. Bamboo.
How many slaps must Rambo take
Before he can ask for some more?
The answer is one, a quick and hard one
That's how Ms. Bamboo fought giant hand.
How many days must a kidnapping last
Before the police write it down?
The answer my friend, is way more than three
When the kidnapper gave a ride for free.
How many poor baby girls must die
Before she can do something to fight?
The answer is sad, the answer is sad
Only a paper was needed for limelight.
How many days in jail must she stay
Before she was sent to the USA?
The answer my friend was a magical three
When the paramount leader remembered she.
How many English words did Ms. Bamboo know
Before she landed in New Mexico?
900 sentences, all memorized,
But where is drama if there aren't "help" and "thank you".
Update: Another poet wrote another verse for the bravery of Ping Fu:
SYLVESTER'S REAR END ENCOUNTER, BEND, AND BREAK
Ode to Sylvester Stallone, a famous action hero, in his Rambo days,
a large, muscular man with dark hair and,
of course, an asymmetrical face;
just back from his Vietnam tour of duty,
dutifully he serve our country, reminiscing his Asian days.
Santa Fe was an artistic city, second home to Hollywood stars.
There was a Chinese restaurant, somewhere in New Mexico,
where Ping Fu earned her way;
Linda Evans, John Wayne, and Miles Davis all came to her restaurant,
Each of these three served with a cup of tea, indeed,
Served by Perfectly Ping, a foreign student from China, in need.
Yes, John Wayne, who passed away in 1979, was there,
Perfectly Ping said, even though 1984 was the year she came;
May his soul rest in peace, and find his place in Santa Fe,
In the middle of nowhere, which used to be America's Wild West.
"I didn't know who any of these people were", Perfectly Ping recalled,
"So my boss often assigned me to wait on them.
Three cups of tea she served John Wayne, was not starstruck, no autograph was asked.
One night, a muscular man with dark hair and an asymmetrical face,
Walked into her restaurant, with both of his enormous hands.
R-A-M-B-O was his name-o, Sylvester Stallone to be exact, she was later told.
The boss told me to serve him.....(clap, clap, clap)
R-A-M-B-O was his name-o, or Sylvester Stallone, later she wrote.
She approached the table. "What would you like to drink?"
A virtuous Chinese women, politely she asked.
The man said nothing, but startled her by reaching around,
With his hands, the right one being an enormous one,
and grabbing her rear end with his right hand, she wrote,
what he did with the left one, she does not recall.
Without hesitating for a second, Perfectly Ping slapped Rambo on the cheek, hard.
Then she gasped, "What had I done? Surely the boss would fire me"
What she did to Rambo was insolent behavior;
What Rambo did, oh boy, was for the glory of his country.
The man sat quietly for a heartbeat, staring her straight in the eyes.
"Does she know kung fu? Is she daughter of Bruce Lee?" perhaps he pondered.
Rediscovering his early childhood faith, remembering
That a Catholic priest said, This is the Gospel according to St. Matthews:
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.
If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also
Then he laughed and said, in an old-fashioned gentlemen's way, "DO IT AGAIN."
"Do it again?" she asked; "Please, Thank You, Help," she said.
She raced back to the kitchen, Chinese mentality still in her head,
still convinced that she would lose her job.
But everyone who had witnessed the event was cheering.
"Ping, you slapped Rambo!"
They squealed with delight. Yes, "Squeal" was the word she used,
to describe the background voice of Chinese American men.
Even the Boss, who had followed to the back room, was chuckling.
"Good job. Keep your tips. Business will be good," the Boss said.
The customer, they told her, was Sylvester Stallone, a famous action hero.
This was a true Gospel, according to her Holy Bible,
Life is a Mountain Range, or Bend, Not Break, is just a name.
Upward, like a Bamboo, she grew.
No longer waitressing. Instead, she is advising.
Successful, powerful, Barak Obama's advisor she became.
Transgression of Rambo's youthful days she recorded,
But no apology from Rambo until today.
"To err is human; to forgive, divine," a Romantic Realist said,
Wondering what Rambo, a Roman Catholic, would say.
But other American women still has something to say,
"Older, wiser, Rambo, DON'T DO IT AGAIN."
An apology is requested, for your behavior to a woman,
no matter from where she came, and
regardless of where two of you might have met.
Evidently this poem came about because of the following tale from Ping Fu's memoir, pages 60-61:
Santa Fe was an artistic city, and many Hollywood stars had second homes there. Linda Evans, John Wayne, and Miles Davis all came to our restaurant. I didn't know who any of these people were, so my boss often assigned me to wait on them, knowing that I wouldn't get starstruck or ask for autographs.
One night, a large, muscular man with dark hair and an asymmetrical face came into our restaurant. The boss told me to serve him.
I approached the table. "What would you like to drink?" I asked.
The man said nothing, but startled me by reaching around and grabbing my rear end with his enormous right hand. Without hesitating for a second, I slapped him on the cheek, hard. Then I gasped. What had I done? Surely the boss would fire me for such insolent behavior.
The man sat quietly for a heartbeat, staring me straight in the eyes. Then he laughed and said, "Do it again."
I raced back to the kitchen, still convinced, with my Chinese mentality, that I would lose my job. But everyone who had witnessed the event was cheering. "Ping, you slapped Rambo!" they squealed with delight. Even the boss, who had followed me to the back room, was chuckling. The customer, they told me, was Sylvester Stallone, a famous action hero.
Ping Fu has got to be the Forrest Gump of real life!