THE STORY Poem by Ouyang Yu

They are separating
Splitting everything down the middle:
Their money
Their furniture after depreciation
And their son
Although they can't cut him in half
The way you treat a piece of wood
He can live either way
For a consented period of time
Except that they won't be able to transplant the tree in their
backyard
Which goes much deeper than their marriage
He said: how much do you say it's worth? I'll give you the money
She thought and said: well, let's just have it cut down and have
done
with it
The marriage gone, why would you want to keep the tree?
He said: fair enough; let's get someone to cut it down
And we'll share the cost -
I was jolted back
Into reality
To see her plant another tree