Something for readers of Chinese: a poem about long-distance relationships. Well, it’s actually about the Cowherd star, 牵牛星, who is a mortal, and the Weaver Girl, 织 女, or in the poem, 河汉女, who is a fairy. They get married, but the Goddess of Heavens objects, and after the Cowherd goes up to the heavens to look for his wife, the Goddess separates them with the Milky Way, only allowing them to reunite once a year. The festival 七夕节, which is sometimes known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, commemorates their sad story. Poor lovers… but it makes for beautiful poetry.
————————————————————————————————————————
迢迢牵牛星
迢迢牵牛星，皎皎河汉女。
纤纤擢素手，札札弄机杼。
终日不成章，泣涕零如雨。
河汉清且浅，相去复几许？
盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语。
————————————————————————————————————————
And here’s a translation into modern Chinese, from 百度百科:
远远的牵牛星，灿烂明亮的织女星。
织女举起柔美雪白的双手，札札地穿梭织布。
她一整天也不能把布织起，哭得泪如雨下。
天河又清又浅，相隔又有多远呢？
只隔一条又清又浅的河，含情脉脉却不能相互说话。
i wonder if the poet takes into consideration the very real issues posed by speed of light time lags inherent in intra-celestial relations.
good question! the one time each year that they’re together they would also likely be pulled together by their huge gravitational fields and meld together in some sort of huge cosmic explosion… maybe that’s the real reason for why the heavenly mother decided to separate them with an 银河, it was all for their own good.