by Chris Wang
Art by Grace Chu
Issue: Metanoia (Winter 2017)
breathing
bubbling
silent slippery depths lie
creatures
grieving
gasping
ocean currents thrusting like
light
shifting
shivering
cold bodies meet warm bodies
surface
rising
roaring
White foaming jaws hang
hesitant
silence
falling
crashing
你什么时候下学？
Three. Like always.
那你就得自己走回家啦。
I know.
有没有饭钱？
Yeah.
带钥匙了没有？
Yeah.
这星期忙吗？
Kind of, yeah.
需要什么吗？
Not really. Look, can you
actually
talk in English for once?
英语？
Yeah, English.
Have good day today, son.
—————–
your fists beat down upon me
crash.
time after time eat away
crash.
the pebbles on the beach so
crash.
even when I am elsewhere
crash.
the wind burns my Yellow
dunes
crash.
White and this ocean of sand
crash.
finally gives itself to
you.
Dad, I have a question.
Go for it.
Why don’t you ever talk in
Chinese?
Well, your grandpa always talked to
me in Chinese, and I can, but I don’t.
Why not?
I don’t know. It’s just easier.
Say something in Chinese.
Hmmm, 你好吗？
Everyone can say that though.
Even non-Chinese people.
If you’re so interested, do you want
to go to Chinese school, then?
No.
