外婆

外婆

如果他们没有逼你缠足裹腿，
如果他们没有将你打入厨房，
你也许会成为中国的女皇。
你没有到外面去看世界，
你目不识丁却大声嚷嚷，
像被锁在阁楼里的疯女人，
整天唠唠叨叨，
可他们听见了吗？

你是家里真正的女皇。
你发号施令，
喂饱一家三代，
还有家禽牲畜。
好日子坏日子同样过，
是是非非都摆平，
大灾小祸你保全家无恙。

月光明亮的夜晚，
我们围绕你身旁，
听你讲古老的故事，
代代相传的夏侯家族
往日的辉煌。
难道我们是王公贵胄的后裔？

你十一岁嫁到樟山夏侯家。
是你青梅竹马的小情郎，
撑小船送你过河
渡吉水到吉安
从此隔江相望？

你是最漂亮的新娘。
他们能见到的是
穿着绣花红鞋的小脚尖。
三寸金莲将女人丈量，
你因此小名锥子。
锥子婆婆的骄傲，
似锥子扎心疼痛难熬。

你生育了十几个孩子，
只有三个成长。
舅舅英年早逝，
你嚎啕痛哭，
天塌下来养老无靠。
可我妈妈和姨姨不算吗？
不，养女不能送终，
不能接代传宗。

你活了一个世纪长。
在最后的日子里，
你回到故乡。
不敢做孤魂漂泊异地，
进不了祖宗的祠堂。
落叶终归根，
亲爱的外婆，
愿你天国永安祥。

You could have been the empress of China
if they had not had your feet bound
and confined your territory
to the kitchen.
You could not read or write
or travel to see the world,
Like the mad woman in the attic,
you kept nagging to have your voice heard.

You were the empress of the house
who commanded and fed husband, children, grandchildren
and all the domesticated animals,
through times good and bad.
You seemed to have an answer to every problem,
a remedy for all ailments.

Under a moonlit night
you told stories passed down from generations
to generations, the ancient glories of
the Xia Hou family.
Were we decedents of the second emperor?

You were married at the age of 11.
Was it your sweet heart
who sailed you across the river
to your new home?
You gave birth to 10 children.
You wailed when your only surviving son
died at the prime of his age.
What about your two daughters,
my mother and my aunt?
No, a daughter could not carry
the family name or
be with you at your death bed.

You lived a life a century long.
In your last days
They brought you back to your native village
so that you could enter the ancestral hall
would not become a wondering ghost
When it was time to go.
The leaves finally returned to their roots.