The Other Woman

小三

小时候,我在头上
穿着黑裙,假装留长头发。
我边抚黑裙,边说:
“妈妈,我长大后想嫁给你。”
妈妈哈哈大笑,回答:
“不行。我已经嫁给你爸。”
”那又怎样?”

“我们不能在一起。”

长大了。
头发果然留长了。
结婚了。
我和老公一周一次
约爸妈吃顿饭。

现在,每当老公出差,
妈劝我回娘家,
在我老房间的
单人床上度夜。
虽然 搭巴士过去
非常麻烦,我总是
听从她的要求。

凌晨, 我 起床后,悄悄
出门,以免吵醒她。

长大了。
头发果然留长了。
结婚了。如今,
即使当年的黑裙不见了,
即使没嫁给妈,
即使没实现童年梦想,
至少我跟妈的行为
类似于
彼此的小三。

 

As a child,

I wore a skirt on my head,

and pretended I had long hair.

I stroked the skirt and said,

“Mama, when I grow up,  I want to marry you.”

Ma laughed and answered,

“I’m married to your father.”

“So?”

“So we can’t be together.”

 

I’ve grown up.

And grown my hair long.

And married. Once a week, my husband and I

sit down for a meal with my parents.

 

These days, whenever he’s on a work trip,

Ma asks me to come home

and spend the night

in my old room’s single bed.

 

Although it is inconvenient

for me to ride the bus

for a sleepover,

I obey her every time.

 

At dawn, I tiptoe out the door,

so as not to wake her.

 

I’ve grown up.

And grown my hair long.

And married.

 

Although I lost that black skirt,

although I never married Ma,

although I never fulfilled my childhood dream,

at least Ma and I

treat each other

like mistresses.

 

Teh Su Ching 

(pictured: Elements: Roof, courtesy Venice Architecture Biennale, opening on June 7, 2014)

– – –

Slow Words asked Olivia Lee to choose a poet of her country (and coming from her generation) to form our Weekly poem section to be published together with her interview. Teh Su Ching is a writer, screenwriter, journalist and actor: she writes poetry only for private purposes. She did not start sharing her poems on a public platform until April this year, when a group of Singaporean writers on Facebook organised “Singapore Poetry Writing Month” (SingPoWriMo).

Su Ching’s work in theatre and film has been published, performed, and screened in New York, New Haven, Guam, Moscow, London, Glasgow, Shanghai, Tokyo, Valsele, Italy, and Singapore. She graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Asia (Singapore) with a Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing. Her short film Ash, which she wrote while a graduate student, screened at numerous international film festivals, including the Telluride Film Festival, Glasgow Film Festival,  and the Shnit Festival for Short Films. She lives in Shanghai and performs with its oldest improvisational comedy troupe, Zmack, in English and Chinese.

 

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