That time of the year again!

This time, only more dreadful?

Fear not, my love,

For it is futile to hold back time.

Time appears to have only one directional arrow,

From past to present to future.

But that picture misses sorrowfully

The true meaning of time arrow

In this physical universe.

The time arrow unabashfully points

(In thermodynamics term)

To the increase of entropy

(Disorderliness or chaos).

The time arrow ruthlessly points

(In common folk's vocabulary)

To aging and

Greying and

Wrinkling.

But this kind of portraying misses badly

My inclination of loving expression.

Fear not, my love,

For the love is getting more mature,

For the fruition of love is getting ripe,

For the inner beauty is excelling handsomely.

To me you are still that girl

Sitting across my table in the library

On that fateful night

In my freshman year.

To me you are still that girl

Graced elegantly

In that handsewn photo bookmark

That keeps stirring my soul.

To me you are still that girl

Standing amid the thorns,

Outshining the wild flowers

And the cultured lilies.

To me you are still that girl

Whom my passion has poured onto

With poems after poems,

Never finding the perfect words.

To me you are my love,

My only love

That once was,

Now is

And ever will be.

Your love slave,

Rumin

(Composed on Jan.4, 2002)