'One Night at Bed and Breakfast', by Zhu Xiao Di
The host says: Welcome and all is ready
I’m in New York City, checking in late
On a spring evening. Soon arrives another family
Of a mother and two girls, whose conversation
I don’t understand. I suspect they may have
Bloodline from Russia, Ukraine, or Turkey
To my surprise, I spot many volumes of
Crumpled books on the small table in the living room
The firewood in the fireplace glows bright and warm
I ask the host if I may borrow some of the books
And bring them to my bedroom, to which he responds
Surely yes. So, I carry those by Jack London and Chekhov
I read Jack London in college as an English major
Chekhov appeared in Chinese in my school textbooks
The former reminds me of my parents
Now I understand better why they became revolutionary
The latter let me see through those I’ve never met, and
Tonight, those women next door make me think of children
Zhu Xiao Di is the author of Thirty Years in a Red House: A Memoir of Childhood and Youth in Communist China (memoir), Tales of Judge Dee (novel), Leisure Thoughts on Idle Books (essays in Chinese), and poems in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Singapore. He contributed to Father: Famous Writers Celebrate the Bond Between Father and Child (anthology).
Photography by Sarah O’Shea