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Each time I see you,

I see myself;

I see the past and the present.

 

We both came from China,

You stayed inside the grand institution,

I stayed in a dark basement.

 

People came to admire you,

But can you hear their praise?

Or speak your gratitude?

I could hear, but I couldn’t speak.

I guess then, you are the same as me.

 

You came here before me,

You found your home here and made it bright.

This, is my new home,

I will make it bright as you did to yours.

 

At last,

I have learned about your visitors,

Their culture and society,

And I became one part of them.

It was painful but the joy came after.

 

I will come back to see you often,

And share my experience with you.

From your mouth I hear silence,

But I can feel your spiritual voice,

You said to me,

The four seas are our home.

 

 

 

Gu Xiong

1999