I would like to begin this post with a quote, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore” (Andre Gide). I know this quote by heart because it is tattooed in Chinese characters on the left side of my significant other's chest. He and I both understand the powerful meaning of this quote. Traveling takes courage, adaptability, and respect. These are the three fundamental elements that represent my life.

(I was going to write a transitional phrase just now, but then I realized life and death are opposites. If I wrote a transitional phrase, it would expand into a short novel. What you're reading in parenthesis now is so you understand that my mind does not simple wander, but rather it thinks so expeditiously it doesn't have time to explain. I hope this suffices.)

When I greet death someday, I hope my last words will be poetic. Perhaps I should prepare something now because my death could tragically appear at any time. I was thinking of something short and to the point. Something I could whisper under my breath effortlessly. It occurred to me that the best type of poem for this occasion is a haiku. A haiku has a total of seventeen syllables. That is three less than a rhyming couplet written in iambic pentameter. So here is what I have written, hopefully, I won't be reciting these eleven words any time soon:

The autumn waters
Of this world enlighten me,
From this delusion.

Autumn represents death because during the everlasting cycle of the four seasons, the climatic changes of autumn appear to be withering. Water represents an inescapable force as well. I am not sure if there is an afterlife, but if I could have whatever I wanted, the afterlife would be a gigantic library of everything one has ever desired knowledge about. All the world's universal truths explained at your fingertips. I hope Heaven is enlightenment.

Next week, I am going to give a few tips on writing poetry. As an aspiring English teacher, I should take this "how to" guide seriously, but writing a parody of one is far more entertaining.