Sons and fathers

First visit to my son He's place

I arrived at Kanghe's*, a new scene and colors:
Delicate flowers and dangling willows contrast their beauty.
Like a utopia,** so at ease,***
Why leave and be entangled with the world?

*a mashup of my cousin Conway and uncle Huo's names
**she used the phase 'taoyuan' (peach garden) in reference to paradise, in reality, they lived in Minneapolis
***Chinese saying 'an ruo su' meaning 'even though circumstances are tough, I'm taking it easy.'

Family Ritual

All the previous generations tilled the fields of upper Cai.
Then war and upheaval, escaped chaos to the south sea sky.
Wide boundless smoke and waves for three-thousand miles,
Bitter sour wind and rain for eighty years.*
This island is not the place to bury your bones.
Hometown wouldn't require money for a mountain spot.
What day will our homeland be recovered?
Remembering ancestors, having nothing to say is most dark and bleak.

*my dad lived to 86 years

When parents die, it's a serious event in one's life. Usually, one doesn't have the heart to write poetry. But since I am a Christian, death is a long sleep, and one's soul is in heaven, there is no need to pretend that I am unable to write poems. 

The last two lines allude to a classic poem about an old father who told his son, "When the king's troupes recover the lost territory, and when you make remembrance of your ancestors, don't forget to tell your parents about that day."