The Women in My Family

by Erica Hu

The women in my family

wake at dawn,
clad in shawls of a groggy sun.

Clatters and clinks,
in the kitchen, daylight sings.

The women in my family,
always catching the next departing train,

have never seen the city.
They recede into the crowd,
shoulders against shoulders,
chafing away their existence.

The women in my family —

they teach me to chase waves.

In the sea of time,
they clutch my tiny palm

and wait for the ebb tide to let go.

They know I must not stay.

The women in my family

never turn up as far and

fast as they ache for,
yet their staggers drag on,

each day, a little further.

Yet at midnight,
their armors dissolve away.
The women in my family
turn back into
mothers, daughters, and wives.

They lie in a wall-less cage,

staring at freckles on the ceiling

and swallowing,
in their cocoon nightgowns,

the unspoken words —
the weight of living.

The women in my family

whisper into my ears every night

as I drift to sleep.
“You can have everything.”

The night spearfishes my dreams.

Only their chants echo,
softly brushing the veins
of a dormant seed —

every minute,

a little longer.

我家的女人

翻译：诗验室

我家的女人

天一亮就醒来，

披着昏沉无力的阳光。

吡呤啪啷，

厨房里，日光吟唱。

我家的女人，

总是赶着下一班要开的列车，

却从未见过城市。

她们消失在人群中，

肩并着肩，

渐渐磨去自己的身影。

我家的女人 —

她们教我如何逐浪。

在时间之洋中，

她们紧紧牵着我的小手

直到潮去时才愿意放手。

她们知道我注定要离开。

我家的女人

没有自己想象中

走得那么远、那么快，

但她们仍然摇晃着向前，

一天天，一点点。

可是到了午夜，

她们就卸下装备。

我家的女人

变回母亲、女儿和妻子。

她们躺在无壁之笼内，

望着天花板上的斑点

蜷在自己的睡袍内，

吞下

那些未讲的话 —

生活的重担。

我家的女人

每天在我进入梦乡时

都会轻声对我说。

“你可以拥有一切。”

夜刺透我的梦。

只有她们的吟唱仍在回荡，

温柔地摩挲着

一颗沉睡之种的血管

每过一分钟，

就会久一点。

2.我家的女人 The Women in my Family