The below piece is the result of an assignment asking writers to interview a classmate and then write an essay about meeting that person ten years from today. This piece arrived in the form of a poem. What’s extraordinary about the work is that it comes out of our EN 1080 class, where I prepare students from other countries for freshman English by getting their prose into the American form. (Otherwise known as ESL.)
-Allan Goldstein, Instructor of English, ESL
Musky in 2017 by Li Liu, Freshman, Computer Engineering
I remember, I remember,
The classroom we first met 10 years ago.
The little windows the sun
Came peeping in at noon.
You’d never been late for class,
Nor paid less attention to the class than any one else.
But I knew you always had a dream
And lived with courage and confidence till today
I remember, I remember
Your dress red and white
The melody you sang to the piano you played
The landscape-your favorite in Japan
The amazing windows you longed after
And the smile made of light you own
But I notice that you are different today
You have found your ever-love, your world, your value and yourelf
You have gone through your desert, your darkness and your bitter tears
You are a woman instead of a girl
You have the experience which just belongs to you
You always kept yourself strong during those 10 years
Life taught you lessons, you told life stories back
You have learned a lot from life
And I can learn a lot from you
You have changed
Your dress, your hair style, your movement, and your words
But all these changes just imply that you now have a deeper inside
And you are influencing the people and world around you with your power
You are getting changed, and making the world change
Maybe it’s the power of Polythinking
We are all rowing the boat of fate
The waves keep on coming and we can’t escape
Only the ones who stick to their belief and faith can be the winners at last
You are one of them
Everything you told me
Maybe you are not perfect, but you certainly are whole.