We lit the lanterns on the bridge where the river runs through midnight
Your hand found mine among the crowd of strangers celebrating
The fireworks wrote our initials across the darkening heavens
Then faded into smoke that smelled of home and distant borders
I traced your silhouette against the glow of ancient architecture
Where paper windows held the dreams of generations passing
You spoke of emigrating where the oceans meet the mountains
And I pretended not to hear the future in your hesitation
The festival continued drums beating rhythms of forgetting
While we stood like statues carved from longing and from waiting
Your mother called your name across the water's reflection
And you turned away from me toward responsibilities gathering
I kept the paper lantern you had painted with our secret symbol
It hangs above my window still where morning light discovers
The colors fading slowly like the memory of your laughter
But every twilight brings your ghost to walk these ancient corridors
