Once upon a time, there was a little girl with sparkling brown eyes who lived near my home.
When she was eight years old, her family requested that I help tutor her, and I was happy to do so for a few years. Until one scorching summer.
The end of that year, there was an order for national mobilization, all hands on deck. I entered the academy to become an officer and was eventually assigned to station in a distant town.
Years passed, the little girl was gradually growing up. She frequented and comforted my mom, who was all alone. My future at the time seemed rather bleak. She stayed around and helped my mom with household chores, asking from time to time, "Auntie, when will Brother be coming home?" The two women, one old and one young, silently looked at each other; there had been sighs of grief.
Six years later, I was able to be reunited with my loved ones. The day I came back was also her wedding day!
At age 17, she reluctantly married someone she didn't love. Things were due to her circumstance and the era we were in.
"Why didn't you come home sooner?" she softly blamed me.
Her face was imbued with a touch of sadness. I was flustered and taken aback, for I didn't expect that girls could develop such deep affection at their young age. It was sweet and lovely, but it was already too late.
Till this day I still remember her brown, round eyes.
I hope that your path in life has been filled with happiness, Little Girl of Yesteryear...
There was a cute little girl who used to pout
I brought her gifts each time I came by her house
She’d softly blink her round eyes, as if to say:
“This doll you gave me, oh it makes my day!”
Fireworks lit the sky, bright and clear
Lanterns glowed—a wedding was near
Time passed us by, and I failed to see:
A girl I once knew, now a bride-to-be.
Oh, little girl of yesteryear
Your sad eyes met mine, with gentle blame and silent tears
I was chasing the winds, young and free,
Unaware that you were withering, waiting endlessly
The betel leaves of betrothal were given, but not by me.
There are nights when I lie awake
My hair now silvered by time’s frosty ache
In wintry darkness, my shadow—forsaken, lonely
The little girl of yesteryear no longer waits for me…
- Ly Binh Son, USA
http://www.lybinhsonofficial.com/2023/08/love-song-by-ly-binh-son-little-girl-of.html
