An Elegant Chrysanthemum

An Elegant Chrysanthemum
By Laijon Liu 20090609

An elegant Chrysanthemum, she’s foreign and mild.
Her sunflower skin attired her delicate form,
And her golden face glares in the rose field.
Autumn is her spring, when all blossom fade,
Then she quietly spreads out her bloom,
As if she’s late, or too shy to compete.
East wind blows; she trembles, but hangs on.
West wind blows; she shivers, yet stands still.

Her root, sticking into her new planting soil
–the same red earth, that irrigated by history.
Whether east or west she seeds as she’s at home,
In valley or upon hill she’s determined to grow,
But in bloomy seasons she’s forbidden to show.
The east wind blankets the sky with clouds,
And the west wind pours its cold shower,
Yet she holds up her golden blaze unyieldingly.

Her petite body fits into her silky Qi Pao precisely,
A tiny gorgeous dress that nature precut it for her,
As her present and future predestined by her past,
As her identity tag always written by her birthplace,
But a flower can never choose her time and dress,
She can only pierce her root into earth and face heaven,
And stand up to four winds, night rains and morning frosts,
Till that first snow bury her unique smile.

Note:
This is an Asian American poetry, or Chinese American poetry, or accurately a Transplantation Poetry, that time, soil, history, identity or culture all mismatched by the process. And this poem only concentrates on inner experience, never compares the difference of surroundings, especially for a flower that transplanted back and forth.

“But in bloomy seasons she’s forbidden to show.” This phrase does not indicate any discrimination of the new soil, simply it means ‘by fate and nature’ or ‘by her inability to adapt the new environment’ that she cannot catch up the flowery seasons to bloom, even though she is eager to.