One March afternoon in 1969 I was on the deck of a Chinese junk listening to the water clop against the wooden hull and enjoying a breeze that blew toward the South China Sea. The junk bobbed ... [+]
When my dad was closer to death than to us, he’d call out for his mom. His sickness made him weary.
One slow breath in and a single syllable out: amá
Gentle on the tongue, bitter in the lungs.
I never asked him why he cried out for her but I think it was because we want, so greedily, to somehow squeeze into a fetal position and remain in our mother’s heart for as long we can.
Carved deep, sewn slowly.
Nestled deep in her chest, near her neck, closer to the clavicle.
One slow breath in and a single syllable out: amá
Gentle on the tongue, bitter in the lungs.
I never asked him why he cried out for her but I think it was because we want, so greedily, to somehow squeeze into a fetal position and remain in our mother’s heart for as long we can.
Carved deep, sewn slowly.
Nestled deep in her chest, near her neck, closer to the clavicle.
