Dull fruit

Nighttime Boredom

Dullness comes without remedy for this mild mood swing low.
Gathering up a random poem temporarily relieves sorrow.
The lamp casts a single shadow, it's hard to laugh.
Lay down thinking about the past, brow to unfurrow.

"Lay down thinking" intentionally translates the double meaning in the Chinese: either "cease from thinking", or "go to sleep thinking about".

Picking Oranges

A hundred acres of stepped fields surround this green mountain. 
Village front village hind--the plumpest oranges.
Climb around dense woods, you pick and pull.
Return with whole body infused in sweet fragrance. 

Few people visited Seven Star Mountain. There were orange orchards there. After the war, there was a Japanese man who didn't return and stayed in Taiwan. He was treated by the Chinese pretty well so he was very grateful and several times invited the Chinese to return the favor. One weekend, my colleagues and I went to visit and, knowing the mountain very well, the Japanese man, Mr. Little Boss, showed us around. We had a good time.

I am continually amazed by the way I take after my grandmother with my frequent boredom and bouts of mild melancholy. Also, my grandfather represents where I got my adventurous side and love of picking fresh fruit.