The holidays are
a time when families gather together, some driving or flying in from somewhere
far away. If a family or extended family gets along, it can be rewarding. The
truth is though that there are many families that either do not get along or
are spread about the country, or even the world, and these divisions have
splintered relationships. I read this poem and I think that wherever we are, we
can look up to the moon and somehow feel closer together. As I looked up at it
tonight, a half-moon as I write this, maybe we can look up to it and feel some
source of togetherness.
The times are
hard: a year of famine has emptied the fields,
My brothers live abroad- scattered west and east.
Now fields and gardens are scarcely seen after the fighting,
Family members wander, scattered on the road.
Attached to shadows, like geese ten thousand li apart,
Or roots uplifted into September's autumn air.
We look together at the bright moon, and then the tears should fall,
This night, our wish for home can make five places one.
Bai Juyi
