That I began to live

On a bright morning of 2004, on the 9th month and 28th day,
I journeyed up a mountain in Taichung, against the sun’s pounding rays.

Emboldened in spirit, encouraged by light,
I went up on a little lamb,
acquired from the neighbour of my friend.

As the lamb took me up,
We passed a long wide river, lined by dancing trees,
‘till it narrowed into a stream, flanked by steady boulders.

Further up I went, with the stream just below,
I realized then that it has become a gorge.
At awe with beauty, at ease with nature,
I marveled with a quiet smile at Mother Earth’s stature.

I then went back exactly 24 years ago,
to a small hospital on top of a forested hill,
In that hospital, I saw a pretty lady,
and in her arms, was a newborn baby.
That baby grew up, and 24 years later, he was marveling with a quiet smile at Mother Earth’s stature.

And suddenly “CRASH!!!”
I forgot that I was riding! My lamb wasn’t a lamb! It was a two-wheeled scooter!
Half my legs went into a mud patch, half the scooter was still in the mud… I was near the gorge!
I had skidded off a muddy stone, on a path that was laced with slippery rocks.
I had survived.

Someone told me I could have lost my life that day, on that 24th birthday...
But I tell you now, it was on that day that I almost died,
That I began to live.