An Epic Poem of Cupertino

Title: Happy Big 6-0, Cupertino!

Happy birthday, Cupertino!
The candles on your cake are waiting for you to blow.
You’ve come a long, long way
Since six decades ago.

Born into the Valley of Heart’s Delight,
You were nurtured in a family orchard day and night
As the 13th child of Santa Clara County.
Your big family owned the world’s largest fruit production site.

Named after the nearby creek that was later renamed Stevens,
You can trace your ancestry back to an Italian saint’s magnificence,
Which came in 1776 with Father Pedro Font and Juan Bautista de Anza,
Leaving you a Mediterranean inheritance.

Your Mediterranean climate attracted Mediterranean settlers
And they made education a top priority for their youngsters
By creating a tradition of offering high salaries
To draw excellent teachers.

Innovative teaching methods grew in your childhood
While asters, chrysanthemums and pompons colored your neighborhood.
The colorful crops generated millions of dollars
For your family’s livelihood.

In your formative years,
Vallco Park and De Anza College emerged to cheers.
They broadened your horizons,
Showing you different options of careers.

You left your family’s fruit and flower business after turning 20
For a different type of fruit that grows with high technology.
It’s the shiny Apple from a friend who went to your high school,
A more than amazing present you received graciously.

Growing your Apple requires highly skilled labor,
Particularly those fluent in the language of the computer.
You welcome them from all over the world,
Letting their customs enrich your culture.

Lunar New Year’s luncheon brings your February an upswing;
Persian New Year and the Cherry Blossom Festival glorify your spring.
September tastes better with moon cakes for dessert.
Diwali lights make your October dazzling.

Now IC stands for not only the integrated circuit that holds electronic pieces,
But Indians and Chinese.
Your shifted landscape has seen demographic transformation,
Which you embrace with ease.

When your average home price exceeds one million mark
And your top-rated schools are worthy of remark,
You remain down to earth,
As approachable as your Memorial Park.

You never forget your agricultural heritage
While working on the cutting edge.
Your council pursues green legislation;
Your library displays environmental knowledge.

In an enviable environment today,
We are celebrating your 60th birthday.
Your old friend Steve Jobs would be also 60 right now
If pancreatic cancer hadn’t taken him away.

Mr. Jobs is gone
While iPhones and iPads keep getting redrawn.
Human beings will inevitably perish,
But you will go on.

Happy birthday, Cupertino!
The candles on your cake are waiting for you to blow.
May you thrive on change as always!
May you forever grow and glow!

Note: This poem has been incorporated into a video, posted on the website of the Cupertino Historical Society and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpMQy0Vnn_w
).