At Dalian University of Foreign Languages on Monday, I read my "Oxford Cento of American Poetry," and invited the students to pick a favorite line and make it the opening line of a poem of their own. A line from Whitman inspired Wang Xingying (王兴颖)，whose English name is Eileen. The earthquake was very much on her mind when she wrote these lines.
— DL
Yours and Mine
What is yours is mine,my father,
though you are not here any longer.
When the sky grew darker,
your love came into my heart deeper,
and then my eyes turned brighter,
and my wings stronger.
Facing disaster, I won’t be weaker.
You and I are together,
no matter what I will suffer.
God made us daughter and father,
disaster has taught me to stand straighter.
What is mine is yours, dear father,
forever and forever.
*
Wang Xinying also wrote three one-line poems.
Hand
Hand handing hand hangs hope high
Love
Love lets life last forever
Where is God
When God turns his back to us, everyone’s face is God’s.