[Phoenix PEN Club] Shang Huiming: Are you my dearest...

[Phoenix PEN Club] Shang Huiming: Are you my dearest... Tucson City Shang Huiming Dad told me: Your face is covered with wrinkles from time, whether it is...

Tucson City Shang Huiming

Dad told me: Your face is covered with wrinkles of the years, whether it is the simplicity and elegance of bronze, or the smoothness and softness of porcelain jade; whether it is the light ink of freehand brushwork, or the madness and unrestrainedness of wild grass, they are all traces left by the old man in history: sometimes sad and vicissitudes of life, Sometimes she screams and chants——————

My mother said to me: You love to wear the coat of indigo, and the long river dances around you, shining like a silver necklace. No matter the wind and sand invade the land, or the rain and snow fill the air, the wonders of the Zhangjiajie peaks, the changing clouds and mists of Huangshan Mountain, and the bright eyes of Dongting, Poyang, and Tianchi all disappear and appear with your dance————

I really want to get close to you——In the adult’s narration, you are so mysterious, But the strict dignity of the Forbidden City and the beautiful toughness of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses can only make me feel frightened respect and alienation; I also want to hug you, the teacher said that there is a accumulation of history there, but the desolation of Jiayuguan and the tranquility of the Leshan Giant Buddha make it difficult for me to have the impulse and warmth to meet my relatives - - -

You really seem to be far away from me: I can only get used to, understand and appreciate your hazy face from pictures, movies and even on airplanes. Even if I come to you, I don't understand your childhood games, secrets and loves -

But you are so close to me, just like the roots of a tree and the soil: you hug me thickly, and I hold you tightly, accompanying each other - in the congratulatory high-fives with my father, in the endless entrustment of my mother; in the moment when the plane lands, in the old threshold of my hometown; under the Danxia at the head of Orange Island, Among the calm beaches of Bohai Bay! What I can't forget is always your loving attention to me, and my reluctant nostalgia for you -

Maybe I don't belong to you in terms of nationality, and we are facing the sea, and we are far apart. But I know that my heart always belongs to you, and forever! Whether you are young or old; whether you are rich or poor; whether you are beautiful or ugly; whether you are happy or sad ---

How many people have asked me: "Are you my dearest?" I have also asked myself more than once: "Am I your dearest?" Maybe all answers are redundant, and they have always been: Where the heart is, the root is there! The roots are there, the love is there!

My height has long grown up, as high as the Himalayas in the clouds; My feet are so steady, as solid and majestic as the Great Wall; My smile is so magnanimous, as innocent and brilliant as the mountain flowers blooming; My pulse has long vibrated with you, and my young heart has already sent a call to you: I am your loyal son, and also your close friend and partner! It no longer matters where I am or who I belong to. I will no longer argue pointlessly with others because in my heart, "Are you my dearest?" There is no need to answer. Your name has been treasured in my heart: You are my dearest, from the past to forever, forever! (Written in March 2013 for a poetry recitation by students of Tucson Chinese School)