Mui-Ling Teh

Art | Photography | Poetry | Miniature Origami

A touching story from the heart unfolds,
Of a box of kisses wrapped in gold.

…

A man punished his daughter, so the story goes,
For finishing a roll of paper to wrap a box in gold.
They could not even afford decorative Christmas socks,
Yet the girl had used up good paper to decorate a box.
Money was tight hence the man was very angry;
Nevertheless the girl placed the box under the tree.

The next morning however, to the man’s surprise,
His daughter brought to him the box before his eyes.
“This is for you Daddy” she said in affection;
The man felt embarrassed for his earlier overreaction.
But when he opened the box he found it was empty,
And once again he became very angry.

“Don’t you know when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?” he yelled

The girl looked at her father and replied to him, as tears from her little eyes fell:

“Oh Daddy, it is not empty, I blew kisses into the box. They are all for you Daddy.”

The father was crushed and gave his little girl a hug. “I’m so sorry,” he sobbed, “Please forgive me.”

A short time later, in an accident, the little girl died,
And it is told her father kept the gold box by his bedside.
For many years, whenever he felt depressed,
He would open the box to put his sadness to rest.
Taking out an imaginary kiss, he would remember
The love and tenderness of his precious daughter.

Written August 25, 2012.

I wrote this poem based on a story by an unknown author. A few versions have been rewritten to be about a mother and her daughter; and in every case the message is the same: In a very real sense, each one of us as human beings have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses; from our children, family members, friends, and God. There is simply no other possession anyone could hold more precious than this.

The image above is a self portrait.

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All content here is © Copyright Mui-Ling Teh, All Rights Reserved, and may not be used without my permission. Any site using my images against my conditions have not sought proper permission and should be reported or brought to my attention immediately.

 

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