A visual representation of "Mother and Child" by Jennifer Wong
YIP Tsz Ching
Good Hope School
This painting illustrates the close bonding between a mother and her daughter before going to bed. My fond childhood memories with my mother and the routine to be put to bed by her every night are the sources of inspiration for this painting.
In the poem, it says ‘On long summer nights you’d lull me to sleep in the breeze of your palm leaf fan.’ This line has particularly touched my heart as it was exactly what my mother did for me. I am truly thankful for her love and care. Without her, I would have never become who I am today.
Mother and Child
You showed me how to tell
a fresh egg by its shell,
holding it up against the lamp.
You’d look up at the sky, predict
from the stillness of the air
when the rain would arrive.
The language of your dishes:
ginger and tangerine peel julienned
to the finest; fish steamed to perfection.
On long summer nights
you’d lull me to sleep
in the breeze of your palm leaf fan.
Even caning, when it happened,
was a way of loving despite the hurt.
It has made me a braver girl.
And that first time I stood on the swing,
facing the wind, flying forward,
seeing the world with your help,
leaving but not leaving you.
Jennifer Wong
“Mother and Child” was published in Goldfish by Jennifer Wong, p.35. Copyrights © 2013 by Chameleon Press. Reprinted by permission of Chameleon Press.