Woes Of The World

Usually, I post only poems about my personal experience or historical references to my life. I don’t like to write about politics or current events on the world stage. However, I had to make an exception to this. I am living in extraordinary times which in ways subtle had influenced my thoughts… I could not get rid of the image of the six year old Ukrainian casualty… Hence these two poems...

春風未至花盡落    Spring wind has yet to arrive and all the blossoms had fallen,
再世瑤池凡間脱    To be reborn in the fairy Jasper Pool, leaving the mortal world forever.

I find that the these two lines forming the last two lines of the original version lacked the oomph...

1 初醒紅梅隆冬雪 Harsh are winters when red plum blossoms aroused from their sleep,
2 寒冷飛霜人情缺 Cold are flurrying snowflakes and alas, human warmth a lack.
3 年華飄颻花落盡 Good times a teeter and blossoms falling a mass,
4 春風未迎凡塵脱 Spring wind yet to be welcomed, the blooms had left this mortal world.

1 Plum flowers blossom best in the harshest of winters and hence they carry a sense of overcoming the most adverse conditions. Another image is of a scene of red and white. Actually, “plum” is not the fruiting variety that is grown for commercial purposes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_mume

2 The environment is adverse and humanity is at its lowest.

3 年華 can mean, the best of times, the passing of time, the “flower” of time that is summer when most plants bloom, the best time of one’s years, usually to mean youth.

4 Spring is the time or rebirth. With the preceding lines, it is not hard to imagine blood on pristine white snow from the young. What is seen now are plum trees devoid of its blooms and foliage.

Saturday, February 26, 2022

初醒 came from the previous poem while walking at the marina. The sun was shining brightly but the winds were strong. A thought came to me about some showoffs about their children’s talents and a story formed in my mind.  However, I still could not rid my mind of the horrific events taking place, though taking place far far away from me.  As revisions were made, my heart acting on its own changed the theme without the knowledge of my consciousness.

1 紅梅曾經隆冬主 Red plum blossoms were once winter’s Lord and Master,
2 春前莫在桃花處 But when spring’s here, nary amongst in any peach bloom patch.
3 日月乾坤星辰轉 Even the sun and moon; Heaven and Earth; and the constellations change,
4 今時帝君明朝庶 An emperor today, a commoner tomorrow.

Monday, February 28, 2022