There’s an ancient Chinese legend about a little carp
Becoming a mighty dragon.
To control the yellow river’s forceful flow,
A brave warrior built the high and steep
Dragon gate.
This construction altered the water flow,
And the forceful currents brought many carps down the river
At the base of the waterfall.
The carps complained;
The emperor promised that if a carp could leap over
The mighty gate it would transform into
A powerful dragon and be crowned as the head of the fish clan.
Every spring, herds of golden carps were washed up at the base
Of the dragon gate.
And they all tried their level best to jump over the magnificent gate.
They tried hard but couldn’t succeed,
And sadly, accepted defeat.
But a little carp called hope, was determined to win
No matter what obstacle tried to prevent her.
Hope tried and tried and almost reached the gate
Seven times before she fell.
With every fall, her resolve grew stronger,
Her fins were bruised, her scales were broken
Yet, hope was not defeated.
She kept telling herself – fall seven get up eight,
Jump once more to leap over the dragon gate!
With these words she swam up the falls,
And suddenly realised that her fins could become wings
If she spread them out.
Hope unfurled her wings just when she was about to reach the top.
Magic happened!
She leaped over the gate and was transformed into a golden dragon!
We all have wings,
We just have to believe and be determined to win.
