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HO CH'ING LI
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Ho
Ch’ing Li passed away last week and my sadness knows no end
For though he and I never once did speak, I know he was my friend
It was his eighty-seventh birthday – or was it eighty-eight?:
I guess that doesn’t matter, unimportant details can wait…
For only three short years Ho Ch’ing Li lived across the street
And daily, before the dawn, he rose— the new day for to greet
Each on our front porch, our arms raised to the sky, he’d bow to me
And I to him: then we’d exercise – we’d both do our T’ai Chi
I remember the first time I saw him outside, when I went out too on
a whim
As I imitated his movements that day he thought I was laughing at
him
He hooded his eyes so he could pretend he didn’t see me, or maybe
that I wasn’t there
Or maybe he just took himself to some place where of me he would not
be aware
But as time rolled by his demeanor had changed, till the one day he
smiled and bowed
So I bowed to him too, and I waved with a grin, but still we said
nothing aloud
From that moment forward together each morning we’d each push the
dragon away
And I have to admit that I’ve never found a better way to start my
day
But Wednesday last when I went to my porch old Ho Ch’ing was nowhere
in sight
And I felt it so clearly—I suddenly knew that everything was not all
right
He only emerged on a stretcher that morning, indignant to have to be
carried away
His limbs flailing wildly, his wrinkled blank eyes staring-- so
helpless he was that day
Then, still for a moment he was: and suddenly so calm that it took
me quite by surprise
And lucidly he smiled, and then he looked at me, looked me straight
in the eyes
And I tell you, in truth, at that moment I could have sworn that he
gave me a wink
(Though his son would later say it was the sun in Ho Ch’ing Li’s
eyes that made him blink)
And early today when I rose and went out on the porch to begin my
daily T’ai Chi
I know it sounds funny, but I had the sensation that nearby was my
friend Ho Ch'ing Li
And together we both stretched our arms up to the sky; then we both
pushed the dragon away
I know it sounds strange but I tell you the truth: I was with old
friend Ho Ch’ing Li today |
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