In the River’s Wake
江退了以后，
我们就开始种了。[1]
You tell me how the planting began,
when the river retreated into a stream.
In the river's wake,
we found a sliver of land in the streambed,
between the concrete they covered the riverbanks with
and the line where the water retreated.
Soil rich with what the river left,
we grow worlds along the property edge
where water
again, gives us what cannot be owned.
Growing ways, you show me what's in your bones
as you unfurl your fingers,
and give me the green of what you've sown.
You show me how edamame warns of warming seasons,
and rotting bok choy signals missing frosts.
霜打过的青菜最好吃。[2]
Some knowings
tell us earthen memories.
Mud is moved on top of concrete,
creating beds to root climbing 南瓜 Nánguā [3].
River stones and discarded tiles meet,
weave into garden bed walls,
Growing tender 香菜 Xiāngcài and buried 红薯 Hóngshǔ [4]
among what urban sprawl threw away.
Some emptiness's
can still catch rainwater.
Here, where property forgets itself,
You hang a hat for the sunny days,
and joke with me on rainy mornings,
养好了孩子，养好了孙子，我们就养菜了, [5]
and trace the curving 茭白Jiāobái [6] grasses -
rainwater currents
sculpted bends in blades overnight.
In the river's wake,
you show me what can be grown hidden,
along the lines where property fails.
Where value, again, can be unwritten,
and woven back into the linings of
resting places,
beds to dream worlds we remember.
[1] 江退了以后，我们就开始种了. (Pinyin: Jiāng tuì le yǐhòu, wǒmen jiù kāishǐ zhòng le.) Direct translation: When the river retreated, we started planting.
[2] 霜打过的青菜最好吃。（Pinyin: Shuāng dǎ guò de qīngcài zuì hǎo chī。） Direct translation: Greens that have gone through the frost are the yummiest.
[3] 南瓜 （Pinyin：Nánguā）Direct translation: pumpkin
[4] 香菜 ， 红薯 （Pinyin：Xiāngcài, Hóngshǔ）Direct translation: cilantro, sweet potato
[5] 养好了孩子，养好了孙子，我们就养菜了 （Pinyin：Yǎng hǎo le háizi, yǎng hǎo le sūnzi, wǒmen jiù yǎng cài le.）Direct translation: We’ve raised our children well, we’ve raised our grandchildren well, and now we’ll raise these vegetables well.
[6] 茭白 （pinyin: Jiāobái）Direct translation: wild rice or water bamboo
