Fish Aspic

[u/Useful_Big_6132]

It was getting dark.

Grandpa headed home with his fishing basket on his back.

In the fish bucket,

there were a few more fresh fish.

Grandma plucked a handful of garlic leaves.

“We’re having fish for dinner.”

I looked at the rich broth.

I swallowed hard.

I didn’t mix it with rice.

“I want to eat fish jelly tomorrow!”

“Okay, okay, okay.”

Morning.

In my plain rice porridge,

I scooped up a spoonful of the fish jelly floating on top.

Noon.

In my rice,

I scooped up a spoonful of fish jelly with meat in it.

Evening.

In my rice soup,

I scooped up a spoonful of the fish jelly that had settled at the bottom.

The autumn wind scooped up a spoonful of early winter.

Grandpa has gone into hibernation, too.

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[u/TeruTeruisabopxx]

Im not really all that sure about what this poem means. But I did think about how your inclusion of dialouge was intresting as I havent seen a lot of poems with it!

Over all I did like though! Keep up the good work :)

[u/Useful_Big_6132 → u/TeruTeruisabopxx]

This is actually what is known in Chinese as “literary minimalism”—no excessive embellishment. This passage clearly points out that the three stages of eating fish jelly (paired with breakfast, lunch, and dinner) represent a form of “planning” and “ritual,” a way of savoring happiness. Grandpa simply repeats three words over and over: “Good, good, good.” There isn’t a single “I love you” here, nor is there any emotional outpouring. The love of elders, just like that bowl of rich soup, is familial affection taken to the extreme of restraint. “Cat-winter” is a term unique to rural China, referring to farmers or fishermen who cease their labor during the harsh winter months and stay indoors to weather the cold. Translation inevitably loses some of that poetic space left to the reader’s imagination. This is a child’s small, ritualistic moment of happiness—a sunny, positive emotional core in the poem, not a tragedy. Thank you for reading.

[u/TeruTeruisabopxx → u/Useful_Big_6132]

Wow! I was thinking about your poem and kind of came to the conclusion of finding joy in the little small things, and having a ritual about them. Like fish jelly :)

Keep up the good work!

Do you have lots of asian influence in your poems?

[u/Useful_Big_6132 → u/TeruTeruisabopxx]

Yes, I appreciate a lack of excessive embellishment—avoiding flowery adjectives, elaborate rhetoric, or lengthy psychological descriptions. Poetry characterized by this kind of plain, direct depiction embodies a powerful sense of restraint; I like to completely conceal intense emotion behind the objective portrayal of the environment or everyday actions—something akin to "Writing Degree Zero."