Fairly soon, Weng was doing something he had never imagined,

with a large chattering group who descended en masse

to dance and sometimes try out their voices.

It was an unspoken law that the older a person was,

the earlier he or she had to arrive at Tiantan Park.

Apartments that skirted the boundaries
were getting harder to rent,

as karaoke machines were in full swing by first light.

Sometimes Weng and Cherry got to Tiantan early.

Listened to songs they had never heard,

then drank coffee-flavored tea in little bakeries,
watching the steam

roll from boiling pots.

Weng even bought a cell phone so Cherry could send him texts
to encourage his steps,

or just friendly symbols like this:

☺☺☺