“Graduation” by Sam Yu

Soft blooms give birth to sunset fruit.

The warm winds call for rain.

The covered earth of yellow soot

Will embrace snow again,

Yet, with a smile and lonesome sigh,

Today we say goodbye.

Those that laugh now, last night, they cried,

Today, they will be gone.

Those who have stayed, along the ride,

Know that the trip is done.

Once I stand and give this bow,

Our time will be done now.

Laughing, shedding ambrosia tears,

Upon a weathered face.

Regret not as the clock hand nears

The ending of a race.

How joyful and sad that I knew

Those starry halls and hill.

You can love or abhor this place,

But you will remember

In quick or tenebrious pace

Of last and last September.

As new roads diverge in the rye,

Today we say goodbye.

Know that I will see you again,

In a new place and time.

Know, that though, this parting brings pain,

It brings a silver rhyme.

I know you will remember, still,

This place beyond the hill.

And when the lights come out to play,

Our smiles will all be grey.

Even so, I will tell a lie,

That today we said goodbye.