You open the door to find her with her hand outstretched.
She wrenches you through the double doors of the elevator
Out of the apartment building,
Into a starry August night.
You tighten your grip on her hand as you cross the little stream
dividing the building from the outside world.
She sprints through the maple trees, stringing you along
While you make your way to the gates of the complex.
You stop, unsure, as she waits by the crosswalk.
Jinqiao is quiet, save for the small crackle of firecrackers across the street at Century Park
Behind you, Family Market is open late – strangely so
You begin to cross the street when she pulls you back on the sidewalk
Pushing you into a taxi cab, she scoffs
And the driver expertly maneuvers through the streets of Shanghai
Up on the lit-up highway
Plastic separating you from the front seats
As she stuffs a moon cake into your mouth
And your hands find each other’s once again
You sit underneath the Pearl Tower
And watch the lit up skyline under the full moon
She tells you about Hou’yi and Chang’e and their forbidden love story
The pain inflicted on both of their innocent souls, fighting for one another
And she tells you how they were not fighting out of foolishness and naivety
But for love
that’s what makes
The world go round
The full moon beams
as every other family reunites with their loved ones
But not your family,
And not her family.
Your family fails to see the forest for the trees.
They don’t celebrate these things: it’s foolish, you see
And her?
Her father left three years ago and her mother works late shifts at the Lost Heaven
Every day she’s told it’s meaningless to celebrate when they’re in such deep shit.
Why won’t she understand
You have no one
And you are alone.
So you eat moon cakes and steal kisses
And pretend you had a family
For one starry August night.
