Cui Yuwei 1# Fish Bones

Fish Bones

Written and self-translated into Chinese by Cui Yuwei

mum cooks some ribbonfish

it turns black after a little braising

I scratch it with chopsticks

to reveal the white flesh

I remove all the fish bones, lay them out

on a tissue

and glance at my daughter

she has already learned to spit fish bones

at a tender age, even the tiny ones

when I was her age

grandpa often braised fish for dinner

whenever it was served, I said to him

grandpa, show me how you eat it!

he would pick up a piece, chew it roughly

and spit out a small lump

of white mud

I would laugh at him every time…

grandpa lived through famine

war, child loss and disease

but he never learned

to spit fish bones properly

before death

spat him out

《刺》

母亲把带鱼烧得很黑

用筷子刮刮

露出雪白的肉

我把鱼刺剔出

一根根摆在纸上

我看看女儿

她小小年纪

就会吐刺

哪怕是极小一根

我像她这么大时

每当爷爷做鱼给我吃

我就说：爷爷，你快吃给我看！

他就夹起一块

放进嘴里粗嚼两口

吐出一团白泥

我就笑他——

我的爷爷

经历了饥荒、战火、丧子、病痛

却一辈子也不会

吐刺

最后死亡

吐出了他