A Reflection by Qingting
It was our 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2019.
Half a century together was a very long time. The image of a Journey undertaken by Two Travellers marking this passage of time was very clear in my mind. But then, I didn’t have any ideas on what I could do.
Help from the Past
I used to scribble snippets of the day’s events, noting down the upsetting as well as the exhilarating experiences in my schoolgirl diary. The blue book, with a red ribbon page marker, was my intimate confidant and keeper of all secrets. In it there were pencil sketches of imaginings with captions, carefully pressed leaves that I fancied, and poems that I wrote about them. There were also verses inspired by sudden moments of insights, which had a knack of descending upon us when we least expected them. Indeed, the blue book was a treasure trove of ideas and a scrapbook of my lived experiences as a teenager.
Connection to the Present
Now, years later as an adult, remembering the blue book and the pleasure I derived from it, gave help. The recording of my daily experiences in the diary, sketching and organising my thoughts, and finally composing a poem to “explain” what mattered, and the insights gained on moving forward, showed how a poem could capture my thoughts in a nutshell and could be presented as a gift to my husband at the celebratory dinner with friends.
Memory – Perception – Present
The 18th Century Romantic poets, like Wordsworth and Coleridge, taught that imagination is a creative power that could be accessed through “memory, perception, and projection”. Imagination has the power to “conjure” up images from the past to create the feeling or the experience in the present. During a walk through the Evolution Garden, in the Singapore Botanical Garden one morning, just two days before our 50th Wedding Anniversary, I was strangely inspired by the twists and turns of the landscape before me. Insights from my 50-year journey surfaced as I observed the rocks, the vegetation, and the divides along the pathway. These images of the external landscape merged with my Inner Muse to mold and shape the Anniversary poem describing our 50-year journey through life.
I took photographs of the landscape that stirred up feelings of the past and used them to provide illustrations for my verse :
The Poem
We started our journey together with no itinerary.
We navigated the twists and turns ….
…the cracks, the splits … the stones and dead ends … along the way
Sometimes an interesting spectacle caught my eye …
But you scoffed and said: ‘This Is Better!’
Though our marriage has its ups and downs,
Through it all, our LOVE Grows by the day
Different thoughts we had about many things,
Our love for each other remains … Steadfast and Genuine.
Fifty Years have swiftly passed.
But sharing life with my best friend,
I’ve enjoyed our Journey
And arriving at every destination. TOGETHER.
Happy Anniversary!
Qingting
(Featured image of a pair of dragonflies – by Dorothea Oldani on Unsplash)
