Nainai's 4 lines of 7 words
- There is a Chinese saying: "Upwards has heaven, downwards has Su Hang" referring to Suzhou and Hangzhou which are two places famous for scenery and natural beauty.
- Xihu "West Lake" in Hangzho, also known as Xijihu, related to Xishi who was one of the four great beauties who worked as a spy, is a classic muse for poets.
- 'ching-yo' is a word that means a friend that you're related to, so I translated it as 'family-friend' not to mean a friend of the family, but a friend that is family. As my mom and I joked, not all relatives are friends.
- My mom said slicing a lotus root is very interesting, there are long thin strands like threads that stretch and are sticky. There is a saying about these strands "root cut strands stay" that is used to describe situations like divorced people still entangled.
- Like me, you may wonder what a caltrop is, so I have included a photo for your benefit. Aren't they amazing? They are pods that grow underwater and have an edible inner white flesh similar to water chestnuts.
Speaking of famous lake aboard small dingy
Still remember picking caltrops with you visiting
Red caltrops white roots munching treat happiness
Laughter dialect dance play both forget sadness
Gonggong's 4 lines of 7 words
- 'cuen' is homophone for spring and village
- old Chinese money were coins with holes so you could string them together and wear them. There is a saying: better to have 1 skill than to wear 10,000 coins around your waist
Apricot Peak Village
During Japanese occupation, at one point I had to leave the capitol Nancang where I was working and flee to a little city where I rented a large house with some tens of colleagues from two banks. This village was very poor and had old barren trees, none of which were apricot. I never knew why this village was named Apricot Peak, but I did learn that the house was owned by a man named Liu who had made a fortune in the salt business in Yanzhou. He rented out this newly built huge house in this poor village, while he himself lived in his old house.
Ancient trees stubby walls all become neighbors
Mountain front no more apricot blossom spring
Old man Liu ten-thousand coin girded waist weight
Newly built high rise rent other people
Personal notes:
- I love that my grandma liked to snack and be on the water: two of my favorite activities. In fact, this past weekend I got to kayak and make drinks with the precious juice from dozens of tiny squeezed-by-hand key limes--I only squeezed some, my friends squeezed the rest.
- Though my grandfather's poem isn't very emotional or insightful, it is interesting that he had to live with his colleagues for a bit. Nothing like bonding in wartime with the cubicle-mates. Related anecdote for me is that while in line at the grocery store, wondering if one can self-checkout booze, the woman in front of me turned around and said, "Irene?" It was my new boss. I start in a few weeks at Copacino+Fujikado.
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