3 Generations 3 Poems

This is a poem written by my Mama, she was the first woman to go to college in her family. What a gift to know that my Mama (dad’s mom) was a poet, and my Popo (mom’s mom) was a restaurant owner. As a child, my dad would write poems with me, and till this day, when I’m lucky, I can get some lines out of him. (:

凌晨一別 ，

一則獨守家園，

 一為飄零之孤雁。 

想二者之思， 定不能相異也。

然已寒暑三更，卒 未得重逢，此情此景， 真有不可言喻之隱痛。

只望大勢早日太平，被能返回祖國， 共享天倫之樂也。

English Translation (there are a few!):

During early dawn,
I keep watch over our home and
recall the vagrant goose who left its flock.
These two thoughts are actually one and the same.
Even with the passing of summer into the depth of winter, we still cannot meet again.
In this time and this place, knowing this brings inexplicable anguish.
The only hope is for more peaceable times, a return to my homeland, and shared joy in family.

My dad’s response poem:

When your long, lonely journey reached its end,
My heart swelled up with joy; sadness withdrew.
Through rain and storms, you found your way back home.
Scarred and beaten down, you shone like the sun
And brought life once again to my anxious heart.
Must you depart tonight to lands afar,
To lands unknown, a thousand miles from home?
Why must a crane fly off to roam alone?
We are united now; our hearts are one.
Let’s brave the harsh winds side by side this time.
Pain, loss, cold, heat, whatever life may bring.
Let’s laugh at rain and mock the blazing sun.
Our home is each other, till our life ends.

My response poem:

Now many more changes of summer and winter have come

and the Indescribable pain you bore

birthed a generation that could rise with the Sun

and dream with the stars that our ancestors wished upon

to the lonely wandering crane

that longed to find a way

back home,

to the love you knew,

to the love you lost,

thank you.

I honor you for the price you paid

and the unforeseeable cost.

It is a privilege to be born of your flock

to have your poetry running through my veins

It is a river of Peace inside me

a piece no grief can claim

For, I too was once a lonely, Wandering crane.

But your resilience paved a way

For me to lift my eyes to the mountains

And when I’ve forgotten the feeling of home

I know that even in my wandering,

I am never alone