Ni Hao Ma? Poem by Raymond Farrell

Last semester
I studied Chinese
First we learned
Hello - ni hao
And goodbye - zai jian
Then
How are you - ni hao ma
And the usual response
Wo hen hao
Yeah - you guessed it
I am fine
We never learned
How to tell the truth
About how we really are
And in this screwed up world
Who in their right mind
Is fine
I would tell you
How I really feel
But I only took one semester
Of Chinese
Anyway nobody really cares
How you or I feel
If you don't believe me
The next time
Someone asks you
How you are
Try telling them
The truth!