Eating Together
By Li Young Lee
In the steamer is the trout
seasoned with slivers of ginger,
two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil.
We shall eat it with rice for lunch,
brothers, sister, my mother who will
taste the sweetest meat of the head,
holding it between her fingers
deftly, the way my father did
weeks ago. Then he lay down
“to sleep like a snow-covered road ”
winding through pines older than him,
without any travelers, and lonely for no one.
By Li Young Lee
In the steamer is the trout
seasoned with slivers of ginger,
two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil.
We shall eat it with rice for lunch,
brothers, sister, my mother who will
taste the sweetest meat of the head,
holding it between her fingers
deftly, the way my father did
weeks ago. Then he lay down
“to sleep like a snow-covered road ”
winding through pines older than him,
without any travelers, and lonely for no one.
Two years since losing the person I deeply loved seem to have passed in the blink of an eye, like stepping out the door in a short spring, with blooms gone and everything turning green. But it’s also like a never ending gloomy day, a highway with no visible end.
One day I noticed Thirteen Spices being sold everywhere in Chinatown’s grocery stores. This seasoning is only made and produced in my hometown, Zhumadian, Henan province. I think memories can be stored in many ways, because whenever I add Thirteen Spices to a dish, the familiar scent reminds me of him, cooking in the kitchen for me. Many days, many years.
Perhaps I, too, am like these spices, scattering and drifting from place to place, moving further and further away.
I know I could not have made this book without him, I had to make this book without him.
To Sleep Like a Snow-covered Road
Hand Bound, Inkjet Printed, Edition of 5