新年賀 - Happy New Year

     

It was 3am in the morning and a friend came as he had gotten off the airport and came to get his car keys in my house. As I was closing the door behind him, I felt the too coldness of the night air and when I went back to my bed, this line, kept popping into my mind,

冷夜寒星疏.

After many revisions, in my head, I was able to drift off to slumberland when I was quite satisfied with the theme. However, the next morning, there were many more refinements...

夜冷星亦疏, The night's too cold and stars are also in hiding,
更無行人傻. And no traveller is stupid enough to venture out.
醉醒今朝寂, Awakened from my drunken stupor, I find the morning lonely,
重唱去年歌.And so once more I belched out songs from last year.

流星夢 - Meteoric Dreams

This came about when I finished updating 兩岸凡間淚,  and the theme of the Seventh Night was still fresh in my mind... 

http://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2018/12/update-of.html

The second stanza was harder because I didn't know how to connect the two stanzas smoothly into a coherent and related theme until the three words, 流星夢 waltzed into my mind the next day and everything fell into place easily.

31 December, 2018

銀河二星隔, Two separated Milky Way Stars,
鵲橋一夜刻. And one night upon the magpie bridge.
淚眼言未盡, Teary eyes and words' end not yet reached,
東岸又見白. The east bank glows once more in white.

歲月流星夢, In the River of Time, short-lived meteor showers are like dreams,
年華人間客. And Youth are but guests of the mortal world.
豈比天上恨, How can eternal regrets of Heaven be compared?
七夕苦果摘. Of bitter fruit on every Seventh Night plucked.

Update of 兩岸凡間淚

About four years ago in 2014, I was inspired by a doodling line of, 兩邊銀河淚, "Tears on both sides of the Milky Way" in reference to the love story of the "Cowherd and the Celestial Spinning Maid".

I found the line too direct, without mystery and not poetic enough. In the end, a better way was found, "兩岸凡間淚" (Mortal tears on both banks). Here "banks" can refer to the physical banks of a river or figuratively that of the Milky Way.

The ambiguity of the first line creates mystery and has more color in that even though they may be immortals, their feelings are just same as human beings. I had also considered reversing the word order to "凡間兩岸淚" However, this translates to "In the mortal world, are tears on both banks", a much less colorful image.

To complete the poem, I always followed this mantra that the first line creates a theme. The second one expands on it and the third introduces a new theme or motif. The final fourth line ties everything together.  As an example,

Two daughters of a silk merchant live in Kyoto.
The elder is twenty, the younger, eighteen.
A soldier may kill with his sword,
But these girls slay men with their eyes.

At this time, I was starting to learn rhyming schemes and so it became the highest priority and resulted in disconnection. By now my Muse had gone and found myself unable to complete the poem. My paltry knowledge and inexperience made this poem lie in an undisturbed condition until today. For those who are interested in the original, here's the link,

http://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2014/08/three-love-poems.html

A few weeks earlier, by chance, I had stumbled onto Youtube to this Chinese orchestra piece, 東海漁歌 (The Fisherman's song of the Eastern Ocean). There in the video, saw this minor dulcimer player whose gentle hammering on his instrument became the heartbeat of my soul. I was love struck and became so smitten that the entire night was spent watching the video over again and again; trying to burn that image into my mind so that I can bring it into my world of dreams.

My older physical self chided my sixteen year old heart for being such impetuosity.

"How would you get to meet the person? Where would you begin your search? How much is how much to spend on such whimsical frivolity? Remember you have house payments to make! Even if the person is found, what guarantees your heart would not be rendered to shreds?"

"Fate will bring us together! Nothing ventured nothing gained!" came the retort from the impassioned side.

"Sure! It is also the hand of Fate that twain shall never meet! Too many a journey up the hill will the tiger be eventually met".

Never to argue with logic and as usual, it prevailed but the ferverous passion of emotion charged forward to another direction in order to circumvent the reality.

In the end, this unsatisfying poem was dredged from the almost forgotten depths. It was easy to modify given such an aroused fervidity.

兩岸凡間淚, Though mortal tears are on both sides of the Banks,
七夕鵲橋聚. On the Seventh Night; upon the magpie bridge once more reunite,
便勝君一望, Is far better than one look at thee,
單心夢魂醉. And a single heart is unrequited because of your presence in my dream.

I am now satisfied at least until in the future, when I had gained more knowledge and experience for another change.

Notes:

1. Each line contains a number.
2. When read, the last line, 單心 is homphonous to丹心 (loyalty)
3. 君 may be the subject and is looking at the author. Then the last line makes no sense.

29 Dec 2018

Two Constrasting Poems

The first poem is entitled, "凡間仙氣 - Earthly Fairyness".  It was inspired by the following scene as I was walking through the Cabrillo Marina, a few days before Christmas of 2018.  The sky was clear and warm sunlight shafting through.  "Enjoy what you have now instead of fantasizing things you cannot get".

霜雪無踪神緒曠, Feeling great that nary a snowflake or frost be seen,
銀影鱗遍微波浪. And everywhere sunlight glitters all over the sea of calm.
蓬萊稀霧難一見. A rarity indeed to see the Immortal Isles partly bare,
凡間仙氣眼前藏. But permeating all over on this earth, lie the many hidden fairyness before thee.

The next one is untitled.  Now that all Christmas festivities are gone like the blink of the eye; only the cold is left like some guest staying too long.  The main inspiration of this poem comes from the flute rendering of 大魚 - Big Fish. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ6dhjdxeFE&start_radio=1&list=RDCJ6dhjdxeFE

On the surface, it's about someone playing a flute on a boat while journeying through a wintery scenery.  Actually, it is about old age robbing the joys of youth and one's nostalgia of returning to things to the way they were. A contrast to the previous poem.

For the allusion of the Peony Pavilion, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peony_Pavilion

霜雪橫掃點紅影,
The frost angrily blotting out all traces of red,
愁笛更添遍白靜.
Lonelier the blanketed white becomes from the sound of the melancholy flute.
一江東向岸何在,
The river may head east but the bank is nowhere in sight,
回尋昨夜牡丹亭. Back to last night in the Peony Pavilion once more met.

懐舊 - Nostalgia

All these classical Chinese orchestral works were used as background music of old HK Cantonese Kung Fu movie fighting scenes which form a great part of my childhood days. Finally I get to know their names. In the following order, 闖將令 (Shock Troops Order), 四川將軍令 (The Szechuan General's Orders) and 英雄們(We the Heroes Must Win at the Dadu River). Each time, I hear them, images of the fighting scenes would float into my mind. P.S. Kung Fu Hustle used most of them, although done in a more modern way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Roh9-Kdb-E&fbclid=IwAR1kyttvor7-Mvbi_EgrgGQp7squqvK3OUBop4GI8ugcvsHG7g3sTFKtUxY

The most famous song for such fighting scenes in my opinion is the third movement of "The Fisherman Song of the Eastern Ocean", aka "The Dragon Palace of the Eastern Ocean".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Ep-Gy5V48

During the more tender moments, the scene music is taken from the first movement of the piece, "The Butterfly Pea Blooms"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywu89A6jSdg

Looking back at these old Cantonese movies, the actors were so young and handsome, like an American kid growing up with a Jimmy Steward or Troy Donahue movie..., Or of later generations with Athreyu and Bastion in the Never Ending Story...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aacv0-Gv7_k

And thanks to them, the result of their inspiration for one...

雄壯精勃曾一刻, Once upon a brief moment, we were young and full of vitality,
嵗月莫惜萬世隔. How the aeons had gone by, Time has no fondness for us all. 
東風只曉醉年華, And the East Wind only knows how to enthrall the youthfulness,
醒來酒去夢中客. Upon wakening, gone is the inebriation, realizing we are just but guests in our dreams.

恨今事舊杯再盡, Regretting that today's things had grown too old and to my cups - bottoms up once more, 
風催花魂辭古柏. The wind hastens the flower souls bade farewell to old cypresses. 
重渡瑤池春色回, To the Jasper Pools I cross, returning to eternal spring,
休顧紅塵青山白. Nary a care for the mortal world, whether the green mountain had capped in white or not.

幽悠舊事 Something From Aeons Past

While searching for some past information of aeons ago, I found something even earlier - a worm eaten notebook containing some my earliest poetry. Time had erased the memory of having an interest in such pursuits. Perhaps, it's because I had found love. And thank goodness I saved everything that may be of sentimental value even when they are not pleasant.

Of course in those days, my poems are coarse and not conforming to any strict rhyming scheme but the imagery is there. This rhyming skill was just "mastered" only two years ago with the help of the internet. The translation is today's. And if I have the time, hopefully they will be polished.

This one is from my army basic training days, still a teenager of eighteen.

高掛星河明月光, Hung high above the Milky Way is the moon so bright,
花間宇宙島上牢. In this flowery universe of an island imprisoned that I am.
日辛夜苦有誰知, Days I toiled and nights I slaved but who wouldst know?
三月災難如三秋. A time of three months is like three years straight.

東方旭日初破曉, Dawn is breaking on the eastern front,
五藏未祭雷霆嚮. And rumbling is heard - my stomach had no sacrifice yet.
只見蜿蜒人綫長, All I see are long wriggling lines of gods,
不知入廟拜何時, At what time into the temple to be served, I know not.

往日春 - Springtime of Yesteryears

This started when I was doodling with my calligraphy practice.  The first line, a common phrase is what that led me to cap it as a couplet...

嵗月不留人, Time retains no one,
春風皆是夢. All the winds of spring are just memories.
水流往日事, Flowing with time flows the days of old,
遲早化成空. Sooner or later, nothingness they shall be.

Monday, October 29, 2018

A few days later, I began to write another version with the restriction of the first two lines as a couplet removed.  I just wanted to have more rhyming and as such, the rhyming scheme is changed and content on a more personal level.

嵗月不留人, Time retains no one,
春宵舊日尋. For a night of spring is to seek the days of old.
醉夢從前事, In drunken stupor, I dream of yesteryears.
醒後雨淚恨. And upon awakening, in torrential tears of regret.