Starry Eyes
Cynthia Zhang
(Written September 6, 2014)
Starry Eyes
To Professor Wang, In Commemoration of Professor Zhu
When does day end, night start?
At the peak of the mega city,
The pale moon cannot pierce through
The noise, indifference, and exhaustion.
Where does life end, death start?
I bend life and death into ovals.
I lift ovals with my years,
My years without you
Into the sky.
Then I see your eyes smiling
Down at me,
As they always did,
Through my years
My years with you.
Bewildered by the new life
In college,
For the first time,
I caught the glimpse of
Your large eyes.
Those eyes
Were calm and gentle,
They shone in my presence and asked:
Stand by me. No worries.
How my heart rejoiced to find
A comrade and company
When I found you!
In countless days and endless nights
We conversed
Side by side
In the classroom, the library,
And the open fields around our campus.
When the cultural storm rushed away our peace
And swept us onto the broad rural horizon,
Our emotions for each other grew
In our hard labor and laughter
Shared by our eager students.
The rising sun and the setting moon
Witnessed our hearts become tender
For the mere thoughts
And the sound of steps
Of the other.
Finally,
We became a family
In our lives, spirit, and pursuits.
That early spring in the Summer Palace
Was cold and damp.
The shy yellow leaves on the trees
Shuddered in the wind.
But my hands were warm in yours.
My heart beats were even
When our son
Turned and tossed
In my womb.
My life and another little life
Were safe in your hands
As your eyes
Never left me and my needs.
As the wind from the west
Blew harder and stronger,
You took off to the U.S.
With your wings and heart
Opening wide.
I took on your teaching
And family responsibility.
I could stand to see your caring eyes
Only in my dreams
Because I must make your dreams
Come true
As you made mine.
Then death threatened to separate us.
But the dark shadow of death
Only managed to push us
Closer to each other.
By your bedside,
I put up my home in the hospital.
We were together
When days and nights passed by us.
Days and nights could not
Raise
The slightest doubt
In our hearts about
Our love and devotion.
I wanted your life to go on
As I could not walk home alone.
You wanted my peace of mind
After you would walk
Outside my life.
I could only accept your gift
Earned by your respect among colleagues
As I knew
Your eyes would watch me
From above.
You should know,
Your eyes I saw
In and with my life
Would be
Forever
The brightest stars over me.
Now,
Let me see you…
When you are in my eyes.
Please see me,
I see myself in your eyes.
I see you
In life, in death.
