Weekly Poetry Challenge Five

Week Eight Greatest Day of My Life

week Eight Greatest Day of My Life

the greatest day of my life
was the day that I met my wife
who walked off a bus
into my life

in Korea in 1982
On that date
September 7, 1982
Is a date
I shall always remember

For it was the date
That I truly met my fate

It all began with a dream.
My whole fairy tale romance,

I first had the dream
That changed my life
In a boring physics class,

At Berkeley High School
In 1974
Just before I graduated.


She came to me
and started speaking
in a strange Asian language.
She was the most beautiful woman
in the whole universe.

and was speaking to me.
She mesmerized me
bewitching me
with love blazing from her eyes,
penetrating my very soul,
She love mojo working overtime.

I yell out,

“Who are you?”

And fell to the floor
amid the laughter
of my teacher
and fellow students.

I told my best friends
that I had met the girl
I would marry one day.

They said,

“Sure thing, pal.
Whatever dude.”

Not believing the dream.
I had a weekly dream
for eight years.

When I had to decide
where to go in the Peace Corps
after college,

she appeared
in my dream,

and I knew
I had had to go
to Korea to find her.

I finished my service
and did not find her.

I took a job
teaching ESL to Korean soldiers
working in the US Army (KATUSAS)
as part of their mandatory Korean Army duty.

I was about
to give up on his mad quest
and return to the US
to go to graduate school
when he had the last dream.

She appeared
in his dream
that morning
and said,

“Don’t worry.
We will meet soon.”

That night she walked
off the bus into my life.

She was a college
senior majoring
in English
and had gone
to his base
to apply for a secretarial job.

It was love
at first sight
for both of us
as sparks flew
from heart to heart
(ishimchomshim)
as Koreans say.

We exchanged phone numbers
and promised to get together
that Friday for lunch.


She came to my base
the next night
and told me
she had to
talk to me.

I signed her
onto the base library
and ended his class
a bit early
and they went out for coffee.

She told me
that she was madly
in love with me
and had to have me.

I smiled and said,
I felt the same way.
That was our first date.

We met almost
every night for two months,
often taking long walks
in the woods
and just hanging
out talking up a storm.

On my third date,
I proposed
And that was the best day
Of my life,

When she agreed
To become my wife
42 years ago.




Write a poem about a moment when you felt overwhelmingly joyful.

Try to convey this emotion by depicting the setting, the time, and what prompted this strong feeling of happiness and joy. Was it a personal success? Perhaps a wish you’ve had for years finally came true. Whatever it was, draw from your own life experience.