Flinch & Air E-Book

Laura Jane Lee

• Herausgeber: Out-Spoken Press
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 26

Beschreibung

Flinch & Air is a unique exploration of Asian female identity. Reflecting on culture, politics, language and society in and beyond Hong Kong, this is a book of remembrance, courage, resilience and sacrifice. Touching on the current Hong Kong mass demonstrations, the 2019 Extradition Treaty, and the stories of her female elders Flinch & Air positions Asian women at the centre of the page.

Leseprobe

Published by Out-Spoken Press,

Unit 39, Containerville

1 Emma Street

London, E2 9FP

All rights reserved

© laura jane lee

The rights of laura jane lee to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library.

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Out-Spoken Press.

First edition published 2021

ISBN: 978-1-8384272-1-4

ePub ISBN: 978-1-8384272-2-1

Typeset in Adobe Caslon

Design by Patricia Ferguson

Printed and bound by Print Resources

Out-Spoken Press is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and a grant from the Inclusive Indies Fund administered by Spread the Word.

to my tireless mother,the strongest woman i know

Contents

Part I: 女也 ta

Tang Chu Ching 鄧珠清 (por-por 婆婆)

my lover was a sailor boy

wee darling

爹 deh

tears

Yang Chang Man 卓春梅

noah’s wife

Lee Mei 李美

fish wishes from a 2-chambered heart

ma 媽

the heart of the matter

michelle

a ceramic loss

hebe

grieving in both directions

gei

this side of the border

june

yet to be

Part II: 我 ngo

the summer critter speaks not of frost 夏蟲不可語冰

all flesh

the days of the dog

tomorrow, and, and

flinch & air

force majeure

drawn downward

Part III: mothering the land

Sweet Like a Bao

In Extradition

muscovado 黑 █

Acknowledgements

Part I: 女也ta

Tang Chu Ching 鄧珠清(por-por 婆婆)

Tang was born in 1936, in a small farming

village of Doumen District, Zhuhai in

Guangdong Province, China. Born to a family of

farmers, Tang was the third child and only girl

in a family of four children. Tang had a relatively

happy childhood, though poor, with a father

who doted on her and was ahead of his time in

recognizing daughters as equals to sons. They were

largely unaffected by the Cultural Revolution as

they were of the working class, but there were

certain unfortunate events such as the accidental

death of her sister at a very young age. At around

20, Tang left the village. She first faked illness and

cited the pursuit of a cure in heading southwards,

then, under the guise of marriage to a Stateside

relative known only by a smart passport photo,

made her way to Hong Kong, where she courted

many suitors but settled on a sailor. Why she did,

I cannot guess. From her I inherited mischief and

vanity.

These are some of her stories.

my lover was a sailor boy

absence is the thing

that catches in the netting,

(when he would come back to me

smelling of brine and sea legs)

the thing

slippery and breathing,

(learning the sprawling vastness of the

heart, the one that is)

alive

undressed waiting

punctuating our

children

(clings to pining skeletons,

bathes the high days between rain)

blooming giddy every

season and again

yes