I was about to say something
when Dad cut in
so what I was going to say
got stuck in my throat
choking me
till I found it hard to breathe
I coughed hard
I kept drinking
I stuffed my mouth with things
but the word remained stuck
and suspended there
when they found the doctor
he removed the word
with the tweezers
but I snatched it off him
and stuffed it back in my mouth
chewing it
before I swallowed it back
and spoke it out
as I covered Mum and Dad’s mouths
- Yang Du - translated from the Chinese by Ouyang Yu - photo by Alice Pedroletti