My Wooden Boat

After the AIDS walk and a late lunch this past Sunday, a few of us headed back to DS's apartment to just relax and to watch a bootlegged version of Blades of Glory (didn't play on the DVD player). When we got there, we took turns washing our sticky and greasy faces from the sweat of our long 6.2 mile walk. The day turned out to be beautiful despite the weatherman's predictions of scattered T-storms.

After refreshing ourselves, we all gravitated to the piano as KM delicately experimented with the keys to play out his "in-the-moment" feelings. DS laid on his bed to nap, HC leaned against the bedroom doorway, poised to sing her inner soul, and I laid on the floor with my eyes closed to skate in my mind to the flowing melodies.

My freestyle skating meandered between deep sensous edges to exploding jumps as the keys dictated the moves. My edges became more and more connected to the inner me as KM played "The Years Flow Like Water" by Anita Mui. The gentle chords played pucked a softer more gentle note in me. The choreography transitioned from freestyle to a more orchestrated dance with lyrical arms, arching shoulders, deep contemplating edges, and an expression of deep divided thoughts. The skate was in front of an unseen, unheard, and unfelt audience; against a black backdrop. I was the focus of one spotlight. Noticed, but unnoticed... it was a personal skate - understood by one and interpreted by none. Finally, with the last of the keys stroked, the skating edge swiveled into a slow silent stop, drawing the memories of past applauds.

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Here's a link to the lyrics in traditional characters, a sample of the song, and the Cantonese lyrics in romanized phonetics.

I found an English translation of the lyrics on the Internet. I don't know how accurate it is since I can't read Chinese. But comparing it to KM's translation, it is pretty close.

<<
Looking at the sea with weariness
I don’t cry, I don’t complain
I look at the sky, I only feel conflicted
My heart, like a small wooden boat, cannot see far
Still it moves forward
Who punishes me in this life?
I struggle everyday in the sea of people
I feel regret in my heart
The years flow like water, I can’t keep yesterday
I can only keep the memories
One by one, in my mind forever
In this world, I miss and miss the olden years
My appearance has already changed
My circumstance too, but my feelings remain
>>