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Sean Yeo

In the winter – Sean Yeo

On a clouded morning in December,
in the quiet winter of Ji Lin,
a high school in the mountains has begun its day.

A teacher makes her way into her classroom,
greeted by the flushed faces of her class,
and the chorus of their voices.

These are the young people; the future of the nation.
Flowing with promise and passion.
Each one innocently carrying
the weight of a family, and a country.
Today they will be told
to go down into the school courtyard
And rustle up the fallen leaves.

The students huddle together to report for their duty.
Bright blue bubble-coats and soft, pink, fleece-lined jackets;
the heater is broken again.
Everyone is shivering and everyone is smiling.
They are quite happy to be directed,
and quite happy to be together with one another.

Knitted caps are pulled down hard over the ears,
brooms are handed out,
and those with none have charge of the trash bags.
Breathing slowly for the cold,
the collection steps out into the chilly air of their school courtyard,
where the biting wind rushes at every uncovered piece of skin,
and the forest and mountains of the country
magnificently frame their tiny school building.

In the winter of China
in a small county in Ji Lin,
a teacher stands at her classroom window
watching her students work,
spreading themselves out across the courtyard;
tiny dots of vividness against a grey background,
easy peals of laughter going up to their teacher’s ears.