White-Haired Verses on Winning Tiles: In the Years, Friendship Shines Like Jade 《白首吟胡牌:歲月有璧情》

Lawrence K. Wang 王抗曝 (2025). "White-Haired Verses on Winning Tiles: In the Years, Friendship Shines Like Jade 《白首吟胡牌:歲月有璧情》, "Global Humanities and Liberal Arts", Volume 2025, Number 12B, December 6, 2025; 2025(12B), 21 pages, Lenox Institute Press, MA, USA. [email protected]. ABSTRACT: White-Haired Verses on Winning Tiles: In the Years, Friendship Shines Like Jade is a modern prose poem portraying Taiwanese and Hong Kong immigrants who settled in the Capital District (Albany) of New York, USA, nearly half a century ago. They founded a Chinese school, nurtured Chinese Community Center (CCC), and sustained one another through friendship and cultural continuity. The poem recalls their collective efforts — donating to purchase the Chinese Community Center campus, staging plays, singing in choirs, traveling the world, and attending weddings and graduations. Now retired with white hair, they continue their bond through mahjong gatherings, shared meals, laughter, and publishing articles [1], [2], [3]. It is both a chronicle and a celebration. In addition to the main poem White-Haired Verses on Winning Tiles: In the Years, Friendship Shines Like Jade , the author has created the preface poem, Footprints of This Life, Shining Upon Future Generations, and the closing poem, Friendship Like Jade, A Legacy for Humanity. All three poems are dedicated by the author to the lifelong friends in Albany, New York, USA, who have shared over forty years of living, striving, and companionship. Also dedicated to all Chinese Americans who journeyed from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to North America. Sharing similar backgrounds, they devoted themselves to advancing Chinese language and cultural education and likewise established and nurtured Chinese Community Centers, preserving cultural roots and strengthening community bonds. 《白首吟胡牌:歲月有璧情》是一首現代散文詩,描寫近半世紀前自台灣及香港來到美國紐約州首府區(奥本尼)的華人留學生。他們創辦中文學校,建立華社社群,並以友情與文化傳承支撐彼此的生命旅程。詩中記錄了捐款購置校園、演活劇、合唱、環遊世界、參與婚禮與畢業典禮的點滴。如今白髮退休,他們以麻將聚會、聚餐、談笑與出版文章,延續情誼。此詩既是記錄,也是讚頌。除了主詩《白首吟胡牌:歲月有璧情》之外,作者還創作了引言詩《今世足跡光耀後代》及結尾詩《如璧友情傳承人間》. 作者謹以此三詩篇獻給四十多年來在奧本尼共同生活、奮鬥、相伴的老朋友們。也獻給所有自台灣、香港、澳門風塵僕僕來到北美洲的美籍華人。他們擁有相似的背景,同樣為推廣中文教育而努力,同樣創建並發展華社(Chinese Community Centers),以延續文化根基,凝聚社群情誼。