I felt that my time was running out.
I had been teaching for over thirty years.
And, when I finally retired,
I could now give attention to the things of the heart.
I am a very heady guy. I write books.
And now I felt an acute sense of loneliness.
It was just around the time that I was getting ready to celebrate Christmas,
And I said to myself, “Gosh, it was lovely to have my family,
But I really don’t have my Lover. Where is my Lover?”
So I began writing some poems to my Lover.
She’s the one that I was going to meet--
I knew that she was somewhere out there.
And I began looking for my last and final love.
I felt that my time was running out.
I had been teaching for over thirty years.
And, when I finally retired,
I could now give attention to the things of the heart.
I am a very heady guy. I write books.
And now I felt an acute sense of loneliness.
It was just around the time that I was getting ready to celebrate Christmas,
And I said to myself, “Gosh, it was lovely to have my family,
But I really don’t have my Lover. Where is my Lover?”
So I began writing some poems to my Lover.
She’s the one that I was going to meet--
I knew that she was somewhere out there.
And I began looking for my last and final love.
I even started dating online. I found twenty women
That I thought I would like to get to know.
And I only got three responses.
I thought, “Gosh, I put a lot of time into that.”
I felt ignored. But guess what? Three was enough.
[Upon reflection, I’d say] “One was enough.”
Yes, indeed, as things turned out, one was exactly enough!
The one that I am talking about is the one who began by saying,
“La vita e bella.” It’s Italian. It means, “Life is beautiful.”
What a neat way to begin.
Then she went on to say that she had been travelling.
Then she did something that most women would not do.
She said that there was something in her life that was unfinished:
It had something to do with a box of letters stored up in her attic
That she was afraid to look at.
“Wow! What kind of women is brave enough
to talk about the fear in her life before a perfect stranger.”
Both of us felt the willingness to let down all our barriers,
To let ourselves be seen just as we are.
Not perfect. Not totally imperfect either.
Not trying to impress each other—that was good--
Not trying to impress each other, but to just be who we are.
Noting more. Nothing less.
We came across one of two crises,
But even these were overcome.
Meanwhile, I wasn’t just going to disappear either.
I bought a ticket! I bought a ticket to go to Shanghai!
Just before Valentine’s Day.
Oh! Was that pure fantasy? No.
Was that pure hope? Yes, but more than hope.
La vita e bella!
And I wanted to be sure. I wanted to be sure that she was the one.
I had to be there. I was like a happy Chinese dragon in the sky,
Jumping from cloud to cloud, crossing the ocean to be with my Beloved.
Oh, it was a voyage of boundless anticipation
And I was that dragon racing to find my last, true love.
