music: 孫燕姿 - 遇見
Love at first sight
By Wislawa Szymborska
"They're both convinced
that a sudden passion joined them.
Such certainty is beautiful,
but uncertainty is more beautiful still.
Since they'd never met before, they're sure
that there'd been nothing between them.
But what's the word from the streets, staircases, hallways---
perhaps they've passed by each other a million times?
I want to ask them
if they don't remember---
a moment face to face
in some revolving door?
perhaps a "sorry" muttered in a crowd?
a cut "wrong number" caught in the receiver?
but I know the answer.
No, they don't remember.
They'd be amazed to hear
that Chance has been toying with them now for years.
Not quite ready yet
to become their Destiny,
it pushed them close, drove them apart,
it barred their path,
stifling a laugh,
and then leaped aside.
There were signs and signals,
even if they couldn't read them yet.
Perhaps three years ago
or just last Tuesday
a certain leaf fluttered from one shoulder to another?
Something was dropped and then picked up.
Who knows, maybe the ball that vanished
into childhood's thicket?
There were doorknobs and doorbells
where one touch had covered another beforehand.
Suitcases checked and standing side by side.
One night, perhaps, the same dream,
grown hazy by morning.
Every beginning
is only a sequel, after all,
and the book of events
is always open halfway through."
Describing the movie as cliched would be a serious understatement, but I think the narrative more than redeemed it.
So what if the coincidences depicted were eerily uncanny and unrealistic? In fact, the movie touched me in a way my usual fare of chick flicks haven't been able to.
The lines were honest yet romanticised, and to me at least, deeply moving. And if the lines weren't enough, I fell hook, line, and sinker for the poem.
Not a bad way to welcome the weekend, after a near hellish week of midnight deadlines and 4-hour bedtimes. Good morning Saturday.
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