Joys of Silent Cellphones

This poem was inspired by the imagery of the first few lines of 某一天, written by Li Xin

清晨, 雨，一塲细雨，然後，太陽出來了，
一杯茶,  門，虛掩着，
一陣手機聲，消失了，好像，又在嚮起…

1 風微雨細一塲後 After the gentle breeze and drizzle were gone,
2 晨早香茶半壺够 In the early morn, even half pot of fragrant tea is good for me.
3 逍遙籠雀喜歌唱 And when the caged bird is unfettered, its songs are carefree,
4 無聲手機樂往舊 Just like in days of yore when music is a silent cellphone.

3 In the old times, covered cages of songbirds are brought to the teahouse in early morning. The moment the cages are uncovered, the birds would start to since thinking that daybreak had just begun. Soon, some enterprising teahouse owners start to serve dainty plates of morsels. This is how dim sum houses came into being. Nowadays, the songbirds are gone but the food remained.

The “caged bird” refers to modern man being enslaved to technology.

4. 喜 and 樂 are used as verbs meaning “to want/love in joy”. 樂 also means “music” and was an important component used in rituals and ceremonies. Ancient Chinese believe music brings joy. On another note, if the grass radical is added to it, it becomes 藥 medicine or drugs - the joy of relieving pain or experiencing euphoria from being stoned! 葯 is a phonetic based variant in which the simplified form 药 is derived.

Saturday, November 26, 2022

A Fiery Sunset

This was a photo with the line,  夕陽西下半天紅 posted by a friend on Facebook.

1 夕陽西斜半天紅 The setting sun and half the sky in red,
2 松影搖黑險路逢 And encountering perilous roads where pine shadows sway.
3 人生未知總要渡 Unknown is the future but life must goes on,
4 明月高照莫須恐 Fear not for the rising full moon will illuminate high above the path.

1, 2  西斜 and 黑 are not translated as they are redundant in English.

4 I did not translate 明 directly but used “full” instead. “the path” is not in the original line but is implied from line 2. It would be quite confusing to the English reader at the first glance. 高照 carries the notion of “to care”

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Times of Peace And Bountiful Harvests

The first line came into my mind while I was practising my brush writing.

1 白雲逍遙四海天 White clouds wandered lazily within the four seas,
2 金穀遍滿神洲田 Golden grains fully laded in fields of the divine continent.
3 雨順國泰安民樂 Propitious rains, peace over the lands and its people - safe and happy.
4 豐收莫識火烽烟 With bountiful harvests, no one would ever know what beacon fires are.

1 Ancient Chinese believe that there are only four oceans in the world, just as its western counterpart belief in seven seas.

2 The Divine Continent is another term used for the Chinese empire.

3 Rains coming at the right time otherwise rice crops will be ruined by the wrong timing.

4 Ancient Chinese used fire beacons as signals to warn the people and the military of approaching barbarian armies.

Saturday, 08 October 2022

Ghosts Of Memories Past

While doing some domestic chores...

1 雨夜西山歲月流 Time flows rapidly like the rainy night in the western hills,
2 影飄燭動見夢舊 Shadows a flutter, candle swayed and dreams of old appeared.
3 寥對傾杯朝明到 Lonesome is staring at an upturned cup till morning’s light cometh,
4 難挽故人伴空樓 Difficult it is to retain old friends in company of an empty place.

2 燭影殘年 – remaining years are like a flickering candle when it could be snuffed out at any moment.

4 故人 can also be “a former friend” or someone who is deceased. 樓 is a tall building. Parties of refinement are held on upper floors for better views of the moon as inspiration for literary competition during drinking bouts.

Friday, September 30, 2022

Over The Clouds

Three poems were written to kill time while flying from Bangkok to Narita

This was taken after lunch. The sky and clouds always fascinate me at this height where I am above all of them.

四周矇矇白雲天 Everywhere is a sky of white clouds in haziness,
萬尺騰飛難入眠 Flying over ten thousand feet and slumber is difficult.
空虛莫識仙家處 There is emptiness but no abode of immortals recognized,
蔽目又見在眼前 But as eyes a closed, do they then appear in front of thy eyes.

After lunch and working on the draft of this poem, I took a nap but was rudely awakened by a lady moving through the galley rather briskly and hit my foot.

1 東飛雲霞夕陽西 Flying through the colored clouds in the setting sun,
2 銀河漸流蓋天南 Covering the southern skies is the slow flow of the Silver River.
3 舉杯欲問嫦娥處 Lifting a cup, wanting to ask the whereabouts of Moon Goddess,
4 又恐來輝暗星淡 But afraid that as she comes, her brilliance may dim the stars.

5 愁飲獨對半壺空 In sorrowful sips, I faced the half empty jug of wine alone,
6 寒宮無人相會難 Difficult it is to meet when no one is in cold lunar Palace.
7 眺遠霄漢七夕夜 Gazing afar into heaven on the Night of Seventh,
8 雙星重聚心更煩 The meeting of the twin stars aches my heart even more.

2 The Milky Way is known as the Silver River in Chinese.

3 Chang Er is the lunar goddess

6 The Palace of Great Frigidity is the name of lunar palace where Chang Er lives

7 Seventh Night is the Chinese version of Valentine’s Day.

8 The stars of Altair and Vega or the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid.

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

And finally...

1 醒後重見昨夜夢 Dream from last night still remembered as I woke up,
2 杯在人去再逢空 The cup is here but gone is the person I shall meet again in futility.
3 未登廣寒酒先到 Even before the moon was reached, stupor was already there,
4 誤錯良辰別匆匆 And missed the good times in hurried departure.

3 The Palace of Boundless Cold is the name where the moon goddess Chang Er lives. “Not yet flown into the Palace of Boundless Cold” is a euphemism for a failed tryst. 

4 “hurried departure” – waking up too quickly from the dream.

Friday, September 23, 2022

Two Swimming Pool Poems

It was the last three days in Bangkok before heading home that while lounging at the Conrad pool, the rains came suddenly. It was a perfect opportunity to come up with two contrasting poems.

雨滴池水微波見 Raindrops upon the pool and ripples be seen,

矇矓來人隱若前 Before misted eyes, as if someone had approacheth.
洗盡天下世濁塵 Cleansing away the polluted dust of the mortal world,
依舊緣何難入眠 Then why? ‘tis still difficult to be in slumber.

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

The next day, I thought it was a great idea to use the imagery of the same pool that was drenched in oppressive heat and sunlight.

1 晴天水池滿光映 Sparkling away is a swimming pool on a sunny day,

2 汗滴無情照相迎 Still welcoming those drenched in unrelenting sweat.
3 昨日雨打今刻散 Yesterday’s beating rain, gone of now,
4 風雲莫測更難明 Gauging the flow of winds and clouds is difficult, let alone in understanding it.

2 無情 means heartless, merciless but in this context, relentless

4 Wind and clouds also mean the turbulence in life.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

An Encounter Going Nowhere

This was inspired by an encounter that ended nowhere...

相逢難別更難     ‘tis difficult to meet and even more so upon departing,
昨夜星月朝明散 Stars and moon of last night disperse upon morning’s light.
愁何有                 Sorrow? Nay there be!
壺酒滿                 But with a jugful of wine!
醒後重醉春宵晚 Upon sobering, be drunk again for another night of spring.

Monday, 19 September 2022