English Language Glossary for a Daughter of Refugees

How to find the right words in another tongue

Illustrations by Carmen Johns

The first lies I told were in Cantonese. Like when I hit my brother and said I didn’t. Or when I peed my pants at naptime and quietly slipped off the queen-sized mattress our entire family shared. I stuffed my soiled bottoms into the middle of the hamper and put on dirty underwear and pants I fished…