Jeffinous: A Bunch of Poems

This is a bunch of poems that were formed in mind during my daily jogs as an exercise to kill boredom...

雲捲風去昨夜雨 The clouds had rolled away the winds from last night’s rain,

倦態疑步天邊處 Strolling away in hesitant steps to the where the horizon is.

人生難測霎時變 Life’s unpredictable as changes are sudden,

葉震忽覺水滴餘 Leaves quivered and without warning droplets felt in falling excess.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

青天不擇白雲飄 The blue sky does not choose what kind of white clouds float by,

泓海莫嫌水流小 Neither would the great ocean abstain itself from streamlets.
獨汝挑揀作紅塵 Only you -- would pick and choose in building your world,
孤寡一生嘻哈誚 A life of solitude that others would ridicule in mirth.

事敗奚落萬世愚 When actions fail, eternal mockery for stupidity,
虛成驚舉千秋妙 For vacuity turning into reality, a thousand years in wonderment.
榮華卑賤總是夢 Glory and honor; the lowly and the worthless are nothing but a dream,
兩袖清風何來寥 If I am upright and honest, whence loneliness cometh from?

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

It was sunny and suddenly, there was a downpour and then in the next moment, the sky was clear and sunny as if nothing had happened in between.

青天素雲溫朗逢 I was met with blue skies, white clouds, purity and warmth,

何來烏霧雨濛矓 Whence came these dark mists and fuzzy rains?

身浥寒透又忽晴 Soaked all the way in cold and then suddenly out comes the sun again

弄盡人生戲無窮 Messing up lives to no end.

As a verb, 戲 means the same as 弄.The last line can also be translated as

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Today’s a cloudy day. Last night’s rain had passed. I better finish my jogging routine before more wetness comes. Took me quite a while to think of something unique. In the end, this “riddle” poem resulted. To Chinese history buffs, this poses no hindrance to them. All clues are in the first quatrain.

1寒雨催落花滿地 When frigid rain comes beating down, flowers strewn all over,

2山河永別錦秀離 Bidding farewell to my empire, its richness forever gone from me.

3昨夜小樓御眠賜 Last night in my small tower, an imperial sleep bestowed,

4夢仇八代重演味 But I dreamt that eight generations later, the flavor of history repeating itself.

5天道循回人莫測 Heaven’s law flows ever so smoothly and yet unpredictable by man,

6前世恩怨今塵理 Past Life’s gratitude and grievances, are the reasons of today.

7來生舊債二倍還 Debts of old debts repaid back in double,

8一霎誤過千古記 One moment of wrong, a story for the ages.

1.Vague clue. Can mean almost any disastrous event.

2. Still vague but narrows down a lot more.

3. A very specific clue, unless well versed in literature and history trivia. “sleep” is a euphemism for death.

4. Another very specific clue, unless well versed in history.

5.道 can also mean, “way”, “road”, “course. “The course of Heaven”

6.理 if served as a verb, “to take care of”, “to administer”, “... are tidied up by today”

7. Literally, “wind and clouds”

8.記 can also be used as a verb.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Passing this dead-end road daily that I suddenly got this inspiration…

行徑葉落微飛舞 Falling leaves upon this lane, slightly a stir in dance,

偏僻寂寞無人到 Far from the maddening crowd in solitude.

乾轉坤移陳舊時 So long ago since Heaven and Earth had changed so much,

曾經年華一官道 Once upon my youth that this was such a grand road.

官道 - Official road, maintained by the central or the local government for military and commercial purposes and so are bigger and safer than those of "private roads".

Friday, March 20, 2020

落盡天涯殘光豪 Sinking into the ends of the world, its glow still going strong
波浪漸滅去何路 Steadily extinguished by the waves but where can I go?
月黯星稀山頭眠 To slumber where the mountain top is even when the moon is dark with few straying stars
朝來莫恐曉日無 And in the morn, fret not as if there’s no rising sun.