I Think Sometimes As An Adult, You

A Laotong Relationship Is Made By Choice...when We First Looked In Each Other's Eyes In The Palanquin I Felt Something Special Pass Between Us--like A Spark To Start A Fire Or A Seed To Grow Rice. But A Single Spark Is Not Enough To Warm A Room Nor Is A Single Seed Enough To Grow A Fruitful Crop. Deep Love--true-heart Love--must Grow.

All These Types Of Love Come Out Of Duty, Respect, And Gratitude. Most Of Them, As The Women In My County Know, Are Sources Of Sadness, Rupture, And Brutality.

Mama Used To Tell Us A Story About A Cicada Sitting High In A Tree. It Chirps And Drinks In Dew, Oblivious To The Praying Mantis Behind It. The Mantis Arches Up Its Front Leg To Stab The Cicada, But It Doesn't Know An Oriole Perches Behind It. The Bird Stretches Out Its Neck To Snap Up The Mantis For A Midday Meal, But Its Unaware Of The Boy Who's Come Into The Garden With A Net. Three Creatures—the Cicada, The Mantis And The Oriole—all Coveted Gains Without Being Aware Of The Greater And Inescapable Danger That Was Coming.

Seeing Something Once Is Better Than Hearing About It A Hundred Times. Doing Something Once Is Better Than Seeing It A Hundred Times.

What Stays With Me Most Is A General Sense Of Loss, Unease, And Longing For The Past That Cannot Be Relieved.