by Ying Q.
I am Ying and I have been a student of PSC and a reader of In Our Words for years. Today, I am writing this letter to you as I just wanted to thank you.
I really enjoy reading your poems. I like that your words are dynamic in When I Was Young: “The oceans were deep blue, the mountains were majestic, the river ran fast….” You recall the things that happened in the past with a warm and tender heart, such as in The Oly and My First Kiss Missed, showing me how valuable truth and love are in life.
Your sense of humor and the way you free up yourself in your poems I am a Renaissance Man and My New Car are rich and wonderful. The verse, “I have to stop the car to change the temperature” made me feel relatable to my own experience with a computer. I laughed for a while with tears in my eyes and later found those tears to have healed my dry eyes that had irritated me for a month (I put this story into In Our Words 4).
Your poem of The Gates inspired me to live with passion. There are many gates in life’s journey, such as stress, anxiety, and sickness, that hinder us go farther. But facing the difficulty with an attitude of courage and sense of humor might help us lighten the burden. As you said, “Then I thought/ I can read/ I got up/ And disappeared/ Down the road/ Smiling.”
Thank you very much for sharing great poems each year! They are so deep and meaningful and reflective of our lives. I wish you the best happiness and health!!
God bless you!
Ying Q.