Da on Ice

A chinese woman and her son and I walk across

a frozen lake in Maine. Today begins

the Year of the Ram. A lone ice fisherman

wearing camouflage drops his line

into the tingling water and pulls his sled

of gear from hole to frozen hole.

In this winter still life, the blades hiss

a mist of white shavings, and we are

muffled silhouettes surprising the simplicity

of eternal landscape. Suddenly, the boy

lifts his arms and smiles a command for us to

skate him over the ice. Together, we

move forward. Under this same polished blue

bottle of sky swims Beijing, the city

of Da's birth, half the earth away. Beneath

the tracery of frozen constellations

dart living fish, liquid worlds apart from

slippery bait, rubber boots, and Da.

In a striped cap bright as sunlight, Da laughs

to catch words, to string them on his

tongue in a foreign alphabet he can taste

out loud. ''Hut. Hook. Cracking,'' he says.

Three fish in the net of language, safely, we cross.

You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to Da on Ice
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/1996/0126/26161.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us