Asia Trip 2023 Inspiration II - A Lute Melody For One

While having breakfast at the Hilton Hua Hin Executive Lounge, I had an inspiration on this poem… refined during the trip back to Bangkok and completed in Le Meridien...

1 明月散盡夜黑空 The bright moon dispels the darkness of the sky,
2 荷塘水冷花去紅 Lotus pond waters are cold now that the red had faded from its blossoms.
3 燭搖影纏難入眠 ‘tis difficult to sleep with annoying shadows from the candle,
4 琵琶一曲高樓夢 One melody from the lute for a dream in the tall tower.

1 The bright moon represents the vibrancy of youth. The dark represents the no longer youthful. In other words, the person had been replaced by someone new.

2 The coldness not the waters infer to the ardor of the man’s heart now that the once desired object is no longer young.

4 This line hints that either the lady in question is the unattractive wife of some wealthy person or that she is no longer a popular and desirable courtesan. This is because brothels are usually multi-storied buildings.

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Asia Trip 2023 Inspiration I - Eternal Spring Shrine

This was inspired by the scenery at the Shrine of Eternal Spring.

1 朝雲山影翠綠橫 Morning clouds casting shadows on mountain swaths of green,
2 立霧碣石清溪閑 And on the rocks the fog stood with the clear stream in leisure.
3 飛巖浮紅長春祠 Floating red of the Shrine of Eternal Shrine floats upon sheering cliffs,
4 月照無人水流行 The water still flows even when the moon shines upon no one.

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Spring_Shrine

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Translation Inspiration

“Like a morning dream dissipating into whispers of memory” came from a Facebook post. It was a challenge for me to translate into classical Chinese. ChatGPT's: 晨梦散成留影聲. Not bad but not good idea. In the end, I came up with one and thus a poem to go along with it.

1 如夢朝散語影中 Like a morning dream dissipating into whispers of memory,
2 花香回味縹緲紅 And lingering fragrance of flowers reminded me of their heyday beauty.
3 雲厚霧輕歲月流 Clouds are thick and mists became dissipates as time progresses,
4 古松依舊看窅蓬 And yet ancient pines still gazing quietly at the reeds.

2 Red represents the color of youth.
3 Some are long buried while others, in the process of being forgotten.
4 Compared to pine trees, reeds have shorter lifespan - the beautiful die young and old and ugly doesn't!

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Memories Of Once Upon A Time

It was the last day before leaving Fleur de Chine by the Sun Moon Lake.Photo of the early hours of the lake which inspired this poem. The first time I was here was 45 years ago in 1978. I was 23 then…

1 輕紗朝陽日月潭 The morning sun lightly veiled over the Sun Moon Lake,
2 愁雲醉鎖碧嶺難 Difficult for melancholy clouds to douse green mountains into stupor.
3 昨夜春宵曾經夢 Last night was like a former dream of youth,
4 萍水重聚何刻還 A world of floating duckweeds, wouldst reunion be of once more?

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Moon_Lake

2 Despite the morning mists, the far away mountain ranges are still visible. They represent past memories that Time tries to fog up.

3 Last night – my past; spring - my youth and dreams – existence of intangibility in the mind

4 The hither and thither of duckweeds floating on water represents the uncertainty of the world. In other words, when will I be back at the Sun Moon Lake again.  I know I won't be back but Fate has a different way to change one's resolve.

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Tamsui Sunset

1 隨行伴影風, Along where pedestrians are, the accompanying wind follows,
2 夕陽淡水紅. Upon the Fresh Water River is a sunset in red.
3 殘霞若久閑, And if the fading fiery clouds are at leisure,
4 必定在夢中. Then a dream I must be in.

5 瑤池夜夜醉 Every night inebriated by the Jasper Pool,
6 桃源朝朝逢 And each morn, at the Peach Blossom Spring we meet.
7 西岸觀音山 Upon the western bank where Mt. Goddess of Mercy is,
8 冷月笑古松 Coldly smiles the mocking moon at the ancient pines.

1 I am taking poetic licence here since in reality, there was no wind and the heat is oppressive and too humid for my enjoyment of the place!

2 Tamsui is the name of the area or the third longest river in Taiwan. The name means “fresh water”.

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

5 Into a dreamlike setting.  The magical pool belonging to the Queen Mother of the West.

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

6 Another term to mean paradise.

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

7 Back into reality. From the location where the photos were taken, the mountain is on my left. It is so called because it resembles the reclining Bodhisattva.

8 “mockingly” is implied in the Chinese context. The pine represents the poet while the moon represented the beauty that is no longer with the poet.

https://english.tku.edu.tw/TamsuiScenery-detail.asp....

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Youthful Follies

Trying to sleep on the plane even though it was an Eva Business Class seating…

1 難入夢鄉心思鎖 'its difficult for dreams to enter when the heart is besotted by thoughts,
2 無知少年萬處錯 And too many places where naivety of youth can go wrong.
3 秋時落葉不留人 Sparing no one like falling leaves in autumn,
4 黄花滿地風吹過 The wind just blows over the ground where the yellow flowers are.

4 Yellow flowers can either mean withered flowers or chrysanthemums. 

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Meeting Once More

Start of my 2023 40 day trip to Asia. It was last year on Aug 15th that I first came to know this Star Alliance Lounge. Don’t remember much about the interior but the outside seating area and the subpar food I did...

There was movement and the place seemed alive with the flickering fire and light effects...

In the day time the blue lighted wall was just green vegetation staring at you in silence.

重聚相見記當初 Once more we meet, I thought of the time when we first met,
去年一夜伴暖火 It was a night… of last year, and welcomed by the warmth of fire.
微風細語光影牆 Gentle is the whispering wind, flickering light and a wall of shadows,
今日默對翠綠儍 Today in silence, just a silly fool of green.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023