Essays 2018
"Snow Mountains" and "The Spring Festival"
Cynthia Zhang

短文

雪山

        进入山口，我目瞪口呆：云朵是白玉般的通透，抚弄着万千松树的雪衣，向不远处的碧蓝天空温柔牵引。看不到正午的太阳，只能设想是它在这个冬日内敛的温度和纯净把山巅一隅变成了一个几乎不真实的美世界。

       远处的雪山上似有冰凌。细看是被新雪包裹的松树，折射着近在咫尺的阳光。当自然心情沉静又澄净时，它是愿意把自己的宝贝近距离地向路人昭示的。

八十年代初的一个春节

     那个春节雪花扑面而来。母亲为我缝制的粉红褂子很快变白了。可我满心的欢喜，仍要在无人的操场上跑了很久才回屋。那时夜幕已经降临。

     回到家里，我仔仔细细把麦芽糖吃了，剔出了牙缝里的残存又嚼了一会，然后躺到床上看老书红楼梦。

Time
Cynthia Zhang
Written on November 3, 2018

Time

I can climb a mountain

I can fly to the moon

To meet you

If you were there.

But the bridge

To yesterday and yesteryear

Is hung in the air.

When the wind

Blew open the coat

Twenty years later,

When the snow

Fell on nose

From the same sky,

I pulled cities

Into my clutching hands.

City lights shine.

City’s hustle and bustle shout.

The giant wheel remembers

Our laughter

Over fashion, food, and

A dry sense of humor.

Return to Nature
Written October 14, 2018
Cynthia Zhang

回归自然

当晨鸟的叽喳驱散

夜熊叨扰的焦虑，

当铜红色的太阳

用万千漂白的光线

抚摸笔直高耸的松干，

当一坨坨的蘑菇

呈现着红橙黄绿的温润，

当子松吸吮着母松

干枯的躯体

在半空绽放枝叶，

当琥珀色的树液

虚幻成圣诞的彩灯，

大自然张开臂膀欢呼着：

欢迎你，倦游的孩子！

Jealousy

Jealousy
Cynthia Zhang
Written December 12, 2012

I was reading a professional guidance book and learned how there is always someone smarter in the field. I believe this and always admire those humble scholars who have excelled in the field. Some of my "poems" are sunny while others are dark as what life has always provided us. I always look up to the sunny side while try to understand the dark side as they two together constitute life (what adds to the confusion is that life is often gray). As I have found out, when I dub someone else "the less..." (you can fill in the blank), it most definitely will turn out that I am "the less..." Life has its own way of unfolding...

Jealousy

Her name is mediocre.

She excels in one thing:

She never forgets her mirror.

She confuses all the concepts and theories.

She never knows people are

All over the world,

Poor but sincere.

Her brand is leader.

She led all the crowd scenes,

Knowing no one could ever

See through what was behind:

A knife to cut off

ANY edges!

Oh, you know,

She does not have time

Other than that for a group:

Group study, group discussion,

Solidarity!

Well, you have to admit,

She is talented.

She has no enemy other than

Herself

And her best friend:

A piece of sour chocolate with

Plenty of sugar.

But she does have enough

Time and brain

To know who truly

Invades her turf:

That enemy from nowhere.

That enemy who pretends

He only has time for himself

But not her party.

She organizes all parties!

She takes lead in all

Avant-guard blendings!

She knows so well

What those book worms

Would say about her.

And you think she cares?

Let the gossip fly!

Let the breaking-ins strike!

Let the senior lunatics have sex!

She could find a piece from

Her look new books

To entitle all those.

You think her tricks will die

One day?

Think again.

Jealousy,

Her name is mediocre.

Her road is in the middle.

Updated link to "Hospitals in China"

I have updated the youtube link to "Hospitals in China" in the August 14 post. Sorry the link did not really work.

Hospitals in China

Cynthia Zhang
Presentation on hospitals in China with International Chinese Sociological Association hosted by Princeton on August 10, 2018. You can find a practice session on YouTube as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBGqAPn-vms

June Flower
In Commemoration of My Mother
Cynthia Zhang
Written on June 20, 2018

六月花
致母亲

我目睹你释放进入自然
三月还是冬天
四月五月万物生长
当六月到来
夏花铺满道路两旁

十年前的努力
化作了赏心悦目的现实
你在每一株每一个花朵里
就像我在环保的人海里

这也是你的理想不是吗？
我为人人，人人为我。

Covenant
Cynthia Zhang
March 14, 2018

Covenant

We all tell the same story:

We were the centers of Grandma’s universe.

What a lie!

The truth is:

Grandma was the center of our universe.

Sitting in Mom's Class
Cynthia Zhang
Written on September 25, 2011

Sitting in Mom's Class

I smiled to my memory of mom

As my first English teacher.

I cannot help wondering

What it took for her to teach me

In a class she organized for me.

I can still see my childhood friends

Chasing, laughing, peeking into

That secret cage of a caught owl.

I just begin to see mom

In a very different light

As a young, vibrant, and cordial

Companion and teacher.

She is an un-erasable element

In everything I have become.

And I want to grow with another human being

Into something bigger than the two of us.

Something knit together by an irresistable

Urge to embrace each other as

Companion, comrade, and the eventual home.

Just like the home mom built for me

With warmth, understanding, and knowledge.

I Wish I Were Dying
Cynthia Zhang
Written December 22, 2017

I wish I were dying

I wish I were the one.

I wish I were dying for you.

I wish I could bear all your pain.

I wish for my wish

You would live on forever.

No, for selfishness’s sake,

Please live as long as I live.