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

Drinking Alone

Another mental exercise during my jog…

1 獨杯自醉竹影深 Lone cup into inebriation, bamboo shadows had grown deep,
2 銀河浮星仍未沉 And yet floating stars of the Milky Way had not sank.
3 雞啼五更將快到 Dawn cometh fast upon the crowing of the rooster,
4 琵琶聲暗渡無音 Faint are sounds of the pipa passing time from no news of thee.

2 Movements in the first two lines denote the quick and slow passage of time.

3 Literally, “the rooster crowing to announce the fifth hour”. This period lasts from 4am to 6am.

4 聲 means “sounds made by heaven or come from heaven” such as winds. 音 comes from the worldly plane or manmade. These terms can be used figuratively. I have heard 天音 being used but never 風音 for 風聲. Perhaps it is due to the combined sounds made. 聲音 just means any kind of sound.

音 in this context is short for 音信, news. Two possible scenarios - The pipa is being played quietly to pass the time or that the hanging pipa on the wall is enduring silence with faint memories of the bygone past.

Monday, March 27, 2023

Captivation Of the Mortal World

Another mental exercise for my daily jog especially on a nice sunny day…

1 滿山碧草花開貴 The hills are full of scented grasses and flowers bloom in glory,
2 遍地黄金日向葵 All over the fields are golden sunflowers.
3 蓬萊海霧雲烟夢 Far away is the fog of the Immortal Isles,
4 凡塵此刻更戀迷 At this time, the mortal world is more captivating.

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Once Upon A Heyday

Was scribbling something with a brush before I went for my jog. During the jog, was able to come up with what seemed more fitting to be the second line… 桃花爭艷紅

1 東君未到雪橫空 The Lord of East had not arrived and snow flying abound in the skies,
2 獨自梅花爭艷紅 Plum blossoms alone vie for redness.
3 三春楊絮沾滿城 And into the third month of spring, poplar catkins doused the entire city,
4 一首珠淚伴寒宮 But tears from One Bushel of Pearls poem to keep company with the lonely moon.

1 Lord of the East – the Chinese God of the sun.

2 Plum blossoms bloom most spectacular in the harshest of winter. Here “red” can also be interpreted as “popular”

3 Yang means poplar, a reference to Yang Guifei.

4 寒宮 is the name of the palace on the moon where the lunar goddess lives alone with the jade rabbit, the three legged toad and the osmanthus tree. 冷宮 also means cold palace but denotes any place in the palace far away from the sight of the emperor where the disgraced palace lady is imprisoned for the rest of her life. Both places are lonely and cold but for different reason and intention. See note 4 of 天無白雲青於藍 for the allusion to “One Bushel of Pearls”.

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Silver Lining

Again, it had been raining the entire night and the next morning, it was still in a very light drizzle. Then suddenly, the sky cleared up and sunshine galore. After 15 minutes, it suddenly rained as the sunshine had come. While taking the opportunity, went for my jog and this poem came into the mind. However, the strange pattern repeated a few more times and then remained cloudy and rainy at times until evening descended.

1 幾陣陽光雨淋柳 A few moments of sunshine and rains drenched the willow trees,
2 斜坡溪成水急流 Water came gushing down as slopes had turned into rivulets.
3 冲破半山石磯阻 Ridding all mid hill stony obstacles from its path,
4 重見天日但願久 To see the clear skies and sun long enough is my wish.

4 Figuratively, 天日 means good prospects.

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Scapegoat

Wanted to reach my 50th poem before the month ends… So, while jogging starting with various lines with the rhyming character as 點. The lines were either not colorful or meaningful enough. Trying to continue would make the poem too plain. Finally, a line came into my mental exercise and from there, it was plain sailing…

1 琵琶聲盡箔牽連 The pipa had stopped and the reed screen got blamed,
2 銀橋彩暗野烟纒 As the silver bridge darkened from feral mists.
3 五更夢短長夜勸 Short dreams at the hour of the fifth consoled by the long night,
4 窗外嘀嗒愁雨點 And sorrowful raindrops goes drip a drip outside the window.

2 The bridged looks silvery due to the moonlight but is now obscured by the mists. 野 can use to denigrate wild flowers of the green bowers.

5 The fifth hour is equivalent to the period from 3am to 5am.

Monday, March 20, 2023

A Spring Night Affair

 

Before my jog, I was doodling with the brush and a line came into my mind. Later I decided to make this into the last line of the stanza. Completed this before my jog.

During my jog, refined the poem to the point that I thought the language was more elegant way in expressing.

1 春宵銀光月下晚 Late is the spring night under the silvery glow of the moon,
2 舊曲隱約指空彈 An old melody wafting in and out as I plucked my fingers in the air.
3 添酒加杯敬請降 New wine added to another cup - an earnest respect to invite her descent,
4 微笑普照醉人間 Smiling faintly to shine over an inebriated mortal world.

1 晚 means late rather than night since 宵 is already used.

2 The poet must be getting drunk as he tried to remember the old tune by trying to play an imaginary zither in the air. Wind instruments are blown - 吹, percussions are beaten/attacked, e.g. 擊 and of course, string instruments are plucked or strummed.

4 Figuratively, the moon had consented to the poet’s invitation to come down as beams to have a drinking bout with him. This line could also mean that it is inebriating to see the moon “smile”.

Sunday, March 19, 2023