Lantern Festival

By: Long Teng '26

​East wind ignites thousands of flowering trees;
Stars drifting like rain.
Jeweled horses and carved carriages leave a fragrance along the streets.
The phoenix-shaped flute stirs up the crowd, while jade light turns,
Fish and dragon lanterns dance across the night.
Maidens crowned by the golden snow-willows,
Laughing, pass with sleeves of hidden aroma.
In the throng I seek her,
A hundred times, then a thousand,
Trying to grab on to her.
Yet we pass.
Suddenly,
I turned,
And there she stands,
Where the lantern glow fades.