Flowers In The Wind

This was inspired by this picture from a neighbor’s yard…

1 立春轉眼五月尾 In a blink of an eye, early springtime is now May's end,
2 風到花落胭脂地 Arriving winds, falling blossoms, rouging the ground.
3 紅顏一代芙蓉天 An age of peachy complexions is now the [summer] sky for lotuses,
4 金菊霎間凡塵戲 When suddenly, golden chrysanthemums [of autumn] began to tease the world of mortals.

1 立春 is the first of the 24 solar terms that begins in the second lunar month. It sounds better to my ears with the next line than 春色. 五月尾 sounds better than 小滿尾.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_term

3 紅顏, “red face” is used to denote the “peach bloom” complexion of a young and beautiful woman. The modern meaning of 芙蓉 is hibiscus but in poetry, lotus is meant.

4 Chrysanthemums are the symbol of autumn when most other flowers had faded.

Sunday, May 21, 2023