Five years ago, I taught Chinese at Notre Dame Prep, five classes a day, with a mission to educating and empowering girls to become women who can transform the world. In a beautiful sunny day in September, with gentle breeze, I took a lunch break and sat outside the classroom building. I was inspired to write a poem about my grandmother, my mother and I, three generations of the women born in China in the 20th century …
| 外婆 ?三寸金蓮 ?一朝一代百年的痛 ?一雙腳 囚禁家中 ?一顆顆扭曲的心 ?嚴嚴實實層層包裹 ?十趾十指連著心
?母親 ?九號修長腳 踏上新舊交替大時代 ?一雙腳 家裏家外 ?一顆顆奮進的心 ?忙忙碌碌廢寢忘食 十趾十指連著心 ? 和我 ?六號的腳 ?走過千山萬水 ?踩著細沙和浪花 ?頂著陽光陰雨 ?滿世界探索 ?淚眼朦朧痛徹心扉
?外婆 母親 和 我 青山綠水微風細雨 ?她和她們 還有我們 如夢如癡般的女人 ?用她們的雙手裁剪出 心底記憶裏萬千縮影 |
留給世界寫滿音符的足跡
Aria of Feet
Grandma
Three-inch golden lotus,
Unmeasured agony.
Tottering to the door.
Feet twisted by desires,
Wrapped tightly in layers.
Fingers and toes are connected to hearts
Mother
Mends a cloth shoe, size nine.
Handing a spoon to her son,
She follows Dad out of the house down the path to the machine shop.
Wrapped completely up in work,
Fingers and toes are reflections of her heart.
And I
Ordering Zara, size-six,
Phone full of photos -- streams and wooded hills.
Today we rush over hot sand into the waves.
Freckled skin smelling faintly of oil,
Exploring the world,
With salty tears and full hearts.
Grandma, mom, and I
Green water, blue mountains,
breeze and drizzle
She, them, and us
Dreamlike all the women
Cut out with their hands
Pruning thousands of miniatures
In the deep of their hearty memories
To the world
Leave footprints full of musical notes
