I came homeless And left with a home To which I can never return
Mr. Wilson said “Though you don’t know most of the people here Many of them will be your life-long friends Half of you will find your spouse here. Look at the wedding couples in our church, They are all our alums.” I know it will be true for many, Which would, however, not include me,
Not a new settler As you might have thought I am But a passenger A dandelion Without any ideas where I will go A dandelion Satisfied with wherever the wind blows That is the way how I come That is the way how I go
I said We, who come internationally are different We come from different places We are going to different places Unlike those who growing up together Forever and ever share a root Unlike those who meet in thirties Half of their lives bonded
So I land like a beautiful accident Knowing that My past does not belong here Neither does my future
The conductor in All-East said He met his wife in this room Fifty years ago I remember secretly looking at you Who I’d already have a crush on Realizing that he meeting with his wife here Was a wonderful beginning for an epic But I falling in love with you here Was no more than an expected deviation A beautiful, cruel, ephemeral deviation
I still settled, with the knowledge That one day the mountains and the water here would become past and verdant good old days And a home unreturnable I still loved, with the awareness That there is no possibility for future Between me, who would leave And everything I valued Which would stay Came homeless I left with a home Though I can never return Mrs. Wiram and Mrs. Haston Have been working here for decades Sometimes I even thought If I have the same life as theirs Dealing with these kids day after day It is not bad at all After the concert Ms. Charlotte also has prizes For the boys with the best performance I didn’t dare to even tell my boys Ms. Charlotte is a high school student Only interning here for two years
I am not sure You know it or not But you home me As if there is no an ending day You made me Root and grow and bloom Knowing that one day I will break the roof You make me a daughter here Though I know I’m not And I know I would never be
When the day comes, I am ready For the following journey So quietly I sail without a proper farewell To the tomorrow Always unknown to you It is a sad story, I assume From the very beginning I had to plan on the ending
When I shared my offer of Vanderbilt, Mrs. von Klar said: “See! Tennessee wants you back.” I know I can choose to stay And visit Chattanooga once a month Just like those who grew up here Having a home to return But I didn’t
I heard you calling But I cannot stop, sorry I shall not rest I came with empty hands And leave with empty hands With tons of treasures That I could not bring away
I wrote the songs for the boys As my final gift Which would be performed in last May Had there not been Covid “I’ll my youth finding a mountain” Is the title “-- and half of my life climbing it” I did not hope for any affective encouragement Just want to tell the little ones Ms. Charlotte is sorry For leaving you guys to find her mountains
One day I will come back to this place Which is no longer my home And have a glimpse of your tomorrow Which will no longer be my tomorrow Independent and parallel As if I have never come Maybe I will find a mark Which can prove I have been here Maybe I will not
Will I still be remembered as Ms. Charlotte? When my little altos are turning into basses. Will we still chat and laugh and shout When I meet my old friends? Will Charlie still goes in and out the wood Will Lexie open her LGBTQ cafe Will Matthew successfully go back to high school And become a calculus teacher? And what would be the first sentence when I see my past sweetheart? Will I drop tears Or smile and ask him how thing’s going?
But still, now and future when I close my eyes Still the poetry that I see And still I remember Like an autumn leaf with faded color Able to recall the hues of summer Like a child Always dreaming of the womb
“I’ll spend my youth finding a mountain And rest of my life climbing it I may never, never reach the top, But nothing really matters, nothing really matters
“I’ll miss my home and my mother I’ll miss the spring and the flowers But Life is short, the world is big, and I am young Greenhouse can’t trap me forever
“I fear the storm and the thunder I fear the drought and hot weathers But Life is short, the world is big, and I am young Nothing can stop me for running forward
“I lie on the grass when I’m tired, watching the setting sun I climb on the trees when I’m sad, counting the shining stars I know the scenes on the mountain top will be beautiful But what’s on the way, I value more
“I may be trapped or lost, question my destiny I may change my path halfway, starting a new journey But always I’m grateful for all my memories That shapes me into who I am today But always I’m grateful for all my memories That shapes me into who I am today.”