Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Chen-ou Liu: My Bird of Youth Has Left


French dramatist Victor Hugo once said that forty is the old age of youth. I wholeheartedly agree with his words. After passing the age of forty, I have become more anxious about growing old. I used to be the black cloud; now, I'm turning gray. Time slips away, hair whitens, hands age, veins emerge, and wrinkles stamp the brows. The back begins to ache, teeth become loose, and the voice gets hoarse, a charming quality to some and the roughness of age to others. Furthermore, the body grows dry and liable to fracture, and one day it will no longer respond.
.

looking out
bare maple branches
in the breeze—
mortally wounded
waving goodbye


by Chen-ou Liu
Ajax, Ontario, Canada

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