Don't Ever Feel That You Have To

Mama Used To Tell Us A Story About A Cicada Sitting High In A Tree. It Chirps And Drinks In Dew, Oblivious To The Praying Mantis Behind It. The Mantis Arches Up Its Front Leg To Stab The Cicada, But It Doesn't Know An Oriole Perches Behind It. The Bird Stretches Out Its Neck To Snap Up The Mantis For A Midday Meal, But Its Unaware Of The Boy Who's Come Into The Garden With A Net. Three Creatures—the Cicada, The Mantis And The Oriole—all Coveted Gains Without Being Aware Of The Greater And Inescapable Danger That Was Coming.

I Think Sometimes As An Adult, You Take People For What They Do, And What They Are Now, Instead Of The Whole Picture Of Their Lives.

Gone Were My Girlish Ideas About Romantic Love And My Later Ideas About Sexual Love. From Yi, I Learned To Appreciate Deep-heart Love. Peony In Love

All These Types Of Love Come Out Of Duty, Respect, And Gratitude. Most Of Them, As The Women In My County Know, Are Sources Of Sadness, Rupture, And Brutality.

We're Told That Men Are Strong & Brave, But I Think Women Know How To Endure, Accept Defeat & Bear Physical & Mental Agony Much Better Than Men.