Tianya Guoke
FAMILY RECIPE
When I was small,
when I was frightened,
my mother always gently stroked
my neck and said,
„Hug, hug, hug the neck,
fear must go away.“
She said it three times,
my fear disappeared.
Now,
when my child is afraid,
I do what my mother did,
holding, hugging, saying the words
three times around
and the crying has stopped.
Translated by MW, April 2020