The Lotus and the Moon

Ida Jia ‘25

In the tranquil hours of twilight the lotus and the moon, creatures of day and night fell in love between waking and sleeping. At dawn, the lotus opened toward the sky her graceful petals, which the moon remembered as she dimmed her glow to slumber. At dusk, the moon casted on the pond her tender glow, which the lotus cherished as she folded her petals to dream. Across hundreds of thousands of li and opposite times, the elegant flower of the lotus above water and the radiant near side of the moon facing the earth appreciated each other’s beauty. Yet after many tranquil twilights their love dwindled as both were enervated by obscuring the sides unseen, which gave them more unease than the barriers of distances and times.

In the tranquil hours of twilight the lotus and the moon, creatures of day and night finally find the courage to confess stories of their sides unseen.

The moon recognized that the roots in the muddy waters shared a seed with the flower that bloomed daily and emanated fragrance far. The lotus realized that the far side covered by craters shared a core with the near side that shined nightly and illuminated the dark. The moon understood the mires the lotus had dragged through, and the lotus witnessed the bruises the moon had sustained. The lotus became less afraid of the muddy waters, for she cannot avoid struggles down the roots. The moon became less ashamed of the myriad craters, for she cannot prevent collisions with the rocks. So after many tranquil twilights their love rekindled as both were enthralled by the new versions of each other, which were more beautiful and whole than the versions they used to know.

Let fall the pretense of perfection, and leave some space to sorrows and scars. For each ending there is a beginning: the shadow clings to the light; the night climbs toward the day; the yin clasps around the yang. For the tenebrous and the luminous, the seemingly dichotomous, are truly indivisible and eternally joined, as the wisdom of nature has ordained.