Jia

Susan

I wrote a story and a couple of prose poems about a character named Jia, a Chinese woman who is a Tai Chi master and a teacher of Mandarin and the guzheng. I had no idea what the name meant in Mandarin – I just liked the sound of it and thought it would make a good character name. A friend told me recently that she thought it was a good choice, because Jia means “home”.

I will soon be going back to school to become a teacher of English as a second language, and I’m also learning Chinese. With luck, in a few months I’ll be living and teaching English somewhere in China. The character Jia was inspired by my dear friend Susan, who is all those things I mentioned – Tai Chi master, etc. – and more. How interesting and ironic that when I’m close to beginning an adventure that will take me a far from family and friends, I unwittingly picked this name for my muse. Jia, and home, will be in my heart wherever I go.

Emissary

Summer night, glass of red wine, pen and paper . . . cricket outside my window.

Are you laughing at my loneliness, small friend, or are you calling to a loved one?

Jia is only 65 miles away, but it might as well be 65,000 – from here to Huangguoshu Waterfall. No mountain ranges or swift rivers separate us – only streams of concrete – and our languages, our dreams, our fears, our loves, our ghosts.

My glass is empty now, so I’ll write a funny poem to make us laugh – you and me, Mr. Cricket.

Or are you an emissary and this noise is Jia’s message? I know, let’s all speak your language for a change.

Was she playing the guzheng? How much better my poetry would be if written to her lovely version of “Spring on Snowy Mountains” – rather than your noisy serenade. Or, glass of white wine in hand, has she gone outside to gaze at the moon?

Okay, you win! I’ll come outside instead of write. I had nothing good to say anyway – only wine-soaked words of longing and self-pity.

Yes, she is beautiful on this summer night.

Now jump to it, my friend! Back to the peonies below Jia’s window. Quick! Jump a thousand leagues and then a thousand more! Tell her I understood the message. Tell her that I too am gazing up at the moon, and that tonight, moon-gazing, we are together.

written by  klosey on July 29, 2008 from Santa Rosa, United States
from the travel blog: Travels and Dreams in China
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