Tju-tju Symonds reading by Samantha Symonds’ ‘A Song For Sour Plums’

旅行梅

We eat sour plums on the highway

I give you my palm for seeds

You kiss my hand

Li hing mui

As I toe away the kickstand

We drift between parallel lines

Where I'm just an extension of your spine

Huà méi

Or was that your rib, my Adam

Apple of my eye, atom of my atom

Taking another stone from the heart

hwamei

And prising your bones apart

A door through your cage

Where we scream, love, cry

画眉

Of war paint,

A little late

For the halos of our eyes

老婆梅

Both sad and wise

Am I your wife or bird

Anyway, what's in a word?

Glossary and Notes

旅行梅: Characters for Li hing mei, a dried plum though directly translated as ‘travelling plum’

Li hing mui: Pinyin for 旅行梅

Huà méi: Pinyin for 話梅  another ‘synonym’ of dried sour plums, whose direct translation is more related to speaking, or the quenching of thirst.

hwamei: English name for a type of songbird (Garrulax canorus) - the Chinese hwamei

画眉: Characters for Hwa mei, which directly translated means painted brow

老婆梅: Characters for Lao po mei, when directly translated means ‘wife’s plum’

Samantha Symonds (she/her) is a freelance writer, marketer, dive instructor, and foodie. 

British-Chinese, she has lived on four islands, speaks three languages, studied under two of her idols (Will Self and Benjamin Zephaniah) and once accidentally visited a triad clubhouse. Her award-winning writing has featured internationally in print and online in publications including The Financial Times, Sentinel and Dead Beats.

She is currently quelling her wanderlust by writing her first book and naming future pet dogs. Dashi and Gatsby would appreciate you commissioning her at samanthasymonds.com 

Follow her twitter at @samxsymonds