Clinking, toasting glasses,
Well done!
well done! in any language.
Yali has become a member
of our magic circle.
Signed, sealed and delivered.
Finished at last!
Dr. Zoa has it in hand.
Diamonds from
the flashing cameras
bedeck her new academic hood.
Remember this forever!
Academic coronation.
Clanking cultures
covered by loving smiles.
Was I suppose to give
something wrapped in red?
Is that red outfit a cultural message?
Which culture?
Her daughter arrived Chinese.
Now she talks young American.
Her cosmopolitan patina will last.
Not yet American.
Never again Chinese.
A new culture
just for her.
The child's gift
for mastery of change.
Clinking languages
slow and hand illustrated.
Her Chinese voice to herself
becomes English to me.
If I could but hear
and understand the Chinese
of her mind.
But I know what is in her heart
which is spoken
by her eyes and smile.
Her husband's pride
in her is great.
Would that
he had English words
to match the elegance
of his thought?
Are there metaphors we share?
Later she will caption
the scene for him.
We came from so far
and to be so near.
A clink again,
a knife on the glass
is my cue for a toast.
She has taught me
more than I taught her.
She is a walking,
smiling and doing lesson.
First to the finish line.
First to help others.
First to work.
Last only in finishing the day.
She is a model.
She has made her vague dreams real.