Wu Cheng
1977
When I was born,
father went to the countryside to buy eggs
to nourish my mother.
On the way back
he ran into a roadblock set up by militia
who confiscated the eggs
to “cut off capitalist tails”.
Profiteering was strictly prohibited.
Father wouldn’t give up.
In that village
he looked up a distant relative,
asked him for help to get the eggs back.
The relative said
a militia man’s wife also just had her baby,
only half of the eggs could be given back.
Tr. MW, April 2017
中国大好き 