These sweet October days
their unexpected warmth
after the chilly nights
the air no longer grey
with smoke from summer’s fires
are bringing back old memories
things long set aside
now coming to me clear
as the fall air

A teashop in an alleyway
Kunming late summer ’84
with folding chairs set up
on the sidewalk out in front
old men sit quietly
in their dark blue workday outfits
sipping tea and smoking
through the impossibly long stems
of yunnanese tobacco pipes.

Felicia sits beside me
In the early evening light
I too sip my tea and listen
lulled by the soft surrounding voices
the local dialect that leaves me
clueless though it must be just
the stuff of teahouse talk
anywhere in the world.

And now a surprise
a young man and his partner
stand up to perform a song
from the provincial opera.
It’s a duet, but they take turns,
first he to her, then she to him,
so back and forth, and all the while
two erh-hu players are twining notes
in and around the melody

It must be about love because
it runs the gamut of love’s gestures
smiles and seduction, betrayal, remorse,
forgiveness, anger, laughter, tears.
the audience is amused, is moved,
cheers and applauds, the couple bow,
and the old men go back to their tea,
their pipes, and their games of chess.
Thirty-four years, and it’s still right there
clearer than yesterday,
though unremembered
all this time
today it shimmers in my mind
like a dream, a vision
another world,
another life,
yet mine.