Though Apart, Yet Rooted

I. Circle  

We walked as one, shoulder to shoulder; 

We sat around, no need to say much. 

A joke, a glance, 

Our bond was firm in the soil. 

When I felt tired, I leaned back and fell 

in our circle to nap; 

I knew they would always wake me up 

and never leave me behind. 

When there’s a storm, a chaos in the sky, 

We held each other’s petals in a circle 

and raise our heads with our golden petals. 

Let the rain, wind, or thunder 

Fall on our smiles. 

I worried not how hard it rained 

or how fierce the storm became 

Because I was in an invincible circle. 

No wind could bend our trunk; 

No force of nature could break our bonds. 

So I thought—until the season proved 

Even golden petals must part. 

II. Scattering   

A wretched summer sent some of you apart. 

not by the incessant raging storms, but  

the gentle breeze of early June 

that scattered you away, 

Drifting away with the memories 

that grew on our trunk and stems— 

The silent stories of our growing up. 

What if the storm should rise again? 

We curl inward 

in the hush of where you have gone—somewhere. 

We know we are not alone; 

But with you missing, 

We are never whole. 

We long for the golden hours 

when laughter bloomed like petals,

though apart, yet rooted. 

III. Seeds 

Some of us will fall on stones, 

Some of us will fall under the yields of light. 

But I know that we all will grow. 

We wait for the summer to come, 

When our seeds shall meet again, 

and mingle again, 

In the breeze of early summer wind, 

Bringing with them our stories, 

Without words,  

but  

Laughter  

and glances. 

To my 9th-grade brothers from Fuhsing Class 2025

Richard Lee wrote a farewell to his beloved classmates who have left for other schools for their 10th-grade studies elsewhere. This poem reflects on the quiet strength of friendship, the pain of parting, and the hope of reunion.