Adieu
St . Joseph ' s College , Li , Pak Ho Parco – 16
The clock on the wall struck four , Chiming the woefully old , familiar tune . Air raid sirens in the distance yet war is near Breezing in with no signs of ending soon .
“ School is dismissed — you may go .” Mother Agnes bid a farewell , Her eyes red and watery . “ May God bless you and keep you .”
Jing-yi and I lingered at the school gate , Trying to prolong our time together . Deep in our hearts , We knew we won ’ t meet forever .
We promised not to forget each other , And embraced a final hug . I didn ’ t dare to turn around , As I would surely weep .
I trooped along Avenue Joffre Lined with French Phoenix trees and high-fashion boutiques . Rickshaws , pedicabs alongside Terraplane coupés Whizzed by .
Hectic , dazzling , vivacious . She has always been like that . The Shanghai I grew up in . But will she still ?
I turned a corner and now The sidewalks seethed with people and commotion . I know every single face , For the Shanghai streets were my childhood playground .
Ah Chen was shouldering heavy loads on bamboo poles ; Zhang was preparing porky soup dumplings and green onion pancakes ; Deng was selling rattle drums and shuttlecocks ; Li was waiting for customers with long , unruly hair to show up .
Wang who sold newspapers part-time yelled , “ The Japs will arrive in less than a month !” The market fell into a transient silence , Gradually returning to a semblance of normality .
I was lucky enough to flee , But what about them ? Then I remembered Yeye ( 1 ) used to say , “ Life goes on , no matter what .”