Midnight Dreams

一夜星河五更東 came to my mind in the wee of the night.  Couldn’t remember the second line except for the last three characters. When I went back to sleep, the entire poem was completed but upon wakening the new lines were forgotten.

1 銀河一夜五更風 One night upon the Silver River, winds of the fifth watch came,
2 驚醒昨日春曉夢 Startling my spring morning dreams of yesteryears.
3 鵲橋未盡暗淚先 The end of the magpie bridge not in sight but silent tears a first,
4 秋時葉落何相逢 Autumn leaves had already fallen, whence rendezvous of yet again?

1 Silver River is a poetic term for the Milky Way. The Chinese hour is equivalent to two western hours. The third watch begins at midnight and the fifth hence begins at 4am and lasts until 6am. Here it refers to the coming morning.

3 The magpie bridge symbolizes long distance separation of love. It came from the story of the Cowherd and the Heavenly Spinning Maid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qixi_Festival. 未盡 can mean that the bridge had not scattered yet or that the rendezvous point on the bridge had not reached.

4 The twilight of one’s life and may not live long enough for another celebration of the Seventh Night or to think of the past.

Saturday, April 8, 2023

One Cruisy Afternoon

After composing the previous poem, I had the inspiration to create this one. I had been thinking that the rainy season is over… Just a fantasy of meeting someone in a park…

1 水潾波銀送春風 Clear waters and silvery ripples accompanying the wind of spring,
2 日麗新交笑相逢 Beautiful is the day when a new acquaintance met in smiles.
3 雲雨莫近無騷擾 Rain clouds no longer close by and disturbance nary around,
4 與兄杯傾醉夢同 A toast to big brother till we are drunk and share a common dream.

4 In ancient times, when forming a fraternity, ages were given to establish how one should act according to the Confucian relationships between brothers. And if circumstances are available, a drinking bout is unavoidable.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Welcoming Shade

This welcoming shade is the inspiration to this piece...

1 汗滴珠流顏無彩 Gone is the radiance as sweat dripped like beads from my face,
2 河畔柳樹借蔭蓋 Under the shade of willows by the riverbank I sought,
3 幾陣涼風爽心神 A few moments of cool breeze to invigorate my spirit,
4 折枝恩報植未來 In gratitude, a branch broken to grow for the future.

4 A good gardener knows that a broken willow twig will root easily. Also in ancient times, a tiny branch was given to a parting friend so that he could root in his new location as easily.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Doctrine of the Mean - 中庸

It was a sunny and clear day but the strong winds made my jog miserable. Almost had my head blown off. My straw hat was flapping away and I felt like the Flying Nun. The words, 風吹強 were the impetus to this creation.

1 青天白雲欲登上 The skies are blue, the clouds are white and I wish to alight upon,
2 萬步驚心風更强 After ten thousand steps, the winds are even stronger.
3 人生莫惜年華短 Life does not cherish that days of youth are short,
4 高望低看矇一塲 Too lofty goals attained and upon looking down, everything is but a blur.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

A Palace Lament

While watching some old 黃梅調 movies, there was the finale song in form of a poem from 雙鳳奇緣 at 1:40:10… From the italics part of the poem, I was inspired to write my own.

良宵春月照宮紗
臘炬成林爛如霞
有道天上神仙府
人間還數帝王家                      還數 as in 數還數, 路還路

此番公主和駙馬
假變真求真似假
一塲喜事兩番做
今夕春滿帝王家

1 昨夜星寒照宮紗 Last night cold were the stars shining at the palace windows,
2 今宵月缺怨雲霞 Tonight, the moon is imperfect but the colored clouds get blamed.
3 醉後千杯暖誰人Wouldst a thousand cups be warming anyone?
4 蓬蓽更勝帝王家 Far better are walls of a hovel than those of palace grounds.

1 literally, “palace silk”. 紗 is gauze-like, rough and yet strong, durable and translucent silk to be used like frosted glass. Only the imperial family is rich enough to use them. Ordinary people used paper.

2 月缺 translates to “new moon” and hence imperfect. The intent of this line is that even when full, it would be obscured by the clouds.

3 Ancient Chinese prefer their alcohol warmed.

4 Short for 蓬門蓽戶 – over grown gate and wicker windows, a poor person’s dwelling. The literal inference is that at least there is warmth in a shared bed. Figuratively, palace relationships are never genuine and fidelity is non-existent.

Sunday, April 2, 2023

On The First Day of April

The sun was shining brightly and my spirits were lifted greatly during my jog.

1 四月初到陽光好 The sun is bright with the newly arrived month of four,
2 花間莫辭金蓮步 Amidst the flowers, nary hesitation to steps of golden lotuses.
3 奈何一笑扇遮唇 To no avail, a smile hidden by the fan.
4 是恐蜂蝶向君訴 For fear of telltale bees and butterflies to my Lord.

1 The lunar fourth month although this was written with April in mind.

2 “Golden Lotus” or “Golden Lilies” are euphemisms for the tiny feet bound feet of the women. 三寸金蓮, three Inch Golden Lotuses. It is akin to the 19th century western craze for wasp waisted women.

4 Butterflies and bees are Casanova dandies. Here they are referred to the maids in attendance.

Saturday, April 1, 2023

Strange Southern California Weather

Weather nowadays had been strange for California during this time around. It had been raining more often. One day, it was hot and sunny and the next day drenched in storms. Then in one day, the rain came a few times and suddenly the rest of the day was blasted in hot sun.

Poem #1

This neighbor’s purple tree by the roadside was the inspiration for the first poem. 

From away, the flowers were not that eye catching except for the color.  On a closer inspection, the beauty is obscured by the distance. 

1 後庭借蔭紫花樹 Borrowed shade under a backyard tree of purple blossoms,
2 蓬生逍遙莫遠處 Under its canopy, unfettered freedom born not from a place of faraway.
3 風過無心歌舞逢 An unintentional rendezvous with song and dance, the wind passes by,
4 教出一曲竹葉雨 Teaching the bamboo leaves to rustle out a melody of rain.

1 In my backyard, I have a jacaranda and a purple blossom Empress Tree. So, no poetic licence here…

2 Happiness can be found anywhere when there is satisfaction and one need no rainbow to cross into Oz.

4 Perhaps it was the sight of falling blossoms that made the rustling leaves sound like falling rain.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Poem #2

The rains came in the middle of the night again and the next morning, it was still drizzling.  While waiting for it to stop, the idea of having a contrasting scene with some connection to the previous poem,

1 後庭今日何蔭借 No longer would the backyard shade of today be lent,
2 橫風無情雨滴斜 Fury of heartless winds and raindrops fall askew.
3 花落紫血霑地流 Blossoms fall with purple blood, tainting the flows on the ground,
4 草亂群堆似墓野 And grasses bunching in chaotic heaps, looking more like feral mounds.

1 借 can mean “to lend” and “to borrow”. It all depends on the context.

2 橫 means horizontal or unfettered restraint. A crab is considered a tyrant as it is the only creature to move in a linear horizontal direction. A sidewinder moves at an angle.

3 Purple blooms flowing slowly on the water like purple blood.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Poem #3

Finally, the drizzle had stopped and I went for my daily jog. The skies were still gloomy and depressing when suddenly, during my second round, the dark clouds were replaced with white fluffy clouds and blue skies. Then sun came blasting away as if the rain of a few moments ago had never existed.

1 雨後風清草碧綠 After the rains, a breath of fresh breeze and grasses in green,
2 掃盡人徑花初露 Sweeping unceasingly at life’s path of budding blooms.
3 危葉尖滴能幾何 How long can droplets dangle so dangerously from the tips of leaves?
4 喜鵲重歸見春報 And joyous magpies returning to announce spring’s reporting.

4 報 is used as a verb and not as a noun - "... spring reporting [for duty, etc.] Magpies are the first sign of spring which supposedly had started in Southern California but because of the more than usual rains at this time, it didn’t look quite like the season.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023