What I Learned From My Mother

BY JULIA KASDORF

I learned from my mother how to love
the living, to have plenty of vases on hand
in case you have to rush to the hospital
with peonies cut from the lawn, black ants
still stuck to the buds. I learned to save jars
large enough to hold fruit salad for a whole
grieving household, to cube home-canned pears
and peaches, to slice through maroon grape skins
and flick out the sexual seeds with a knife point.
I learned to attend viewings even if I didn’t know
the deceased, to press the moist hands
of the living, to look in their eyes and offer
sympathy, as though I understood loss even then.
I learned that whatever we say means nothing,
what anyone will remember is that we came.
I learned to believe I had the power to ease
awful pains materially like an angel.
Like a doctor, I learned to create
from another’s suffering my own usefulness, and once
you know how to do this, you can never refuse.
To every house you enter, you must offer
healing: a chocolate cake you baked yourself,
the blessing of your voice, your chaste touch.



妈妈教给我的事情

诗/茱莉亚.卡斯多夫

妈妈教我如何去爱
身边的人，教我储存备用的花瓶
以备你必须匆匆赶往医院
带上刚从草坪上剪下的牡丹花，黑蚂蚁
仍粘附于花蕾。我学会保留许多的罐子
足以存放大量的水果沙拉，够一整个
困苦的家庭食用，用刀将梨与桃子切成块
制作成罐头，切开栗色葡萄皮
用刀尖挑选出有性繁殖的种子
我学会了参加葬礼，即便我不认识
那位逝者，去轻握家属湿润的双手
凝视他们的眼睛，以表示我深切的哀恸
那时的我好似更懂得失去的痛苦
我还懂得说过的言语毫无意义
任何人都会记得我们的存在
我学会去相信我有能力减轻
身体上的极度痛苦，如天使一般
如一名医生，我学会去创造
自己的价值，在他人的痛苦之中
一旦你学会这一点，你将无法拒绝
你走入的每一个家庭，你都将施以
治疗：用你烤好的巧克力
你祝福的话语和你那纯洁的抚摸

那位逝者，去轻握家属湿润的双手
凝视他们的眼睛，以表示我深切的哀恸
那时的我好似更懂得失去的痛苦

有代表性，有意义的教育内容

学习~~

许剑桐 发表于 2022-5-15 11:49
学习~~

谢谢老师！多多向您学习交流！

语千寻 发表于 2022-5-9 11:26
有代表性，有意义的教育内容

是的，很有教育意义！

诗日历.世界诗歌网每日诗选675期选用，谢谢陈老师赐稿~

许剑桐 发表于 2022-5-19 16:31
诗日历.世界诗歌网每日诗选675期选用，谢谢陈老师赐稿~

谢谢老师推荐！祝好！