Parting Words

Parting Gift Poem

Briefly get-together, depart; entrust with my bayroot-self,

In a flash, time feels more precious.

A pocket full of pretty lines makes for melodious singing,

Attentive invitations to dine shows me your true core affection.

On the anniversary of the avoided subject* of Fu Muzeng

Separated from neighbor, in view of each other, by old door and wall.**

One cannot forget how he carried himself, his voice, his appearance.

Looking back to Fu Garden, quite somber and still.

A grove of coconut trees, cool green shade.*** †

*death: President of the Taiwan National University, lived nearby. One day, he went to the senate for inquiry. One of the senators was rude and Mr. Fu had a stroke and died. When he was president, there were lots of accomplishments made against objections and obstacles

**his house was separated from our house only by a street

***Chinese metaphor: the blessings of ancestors or parents to children, or teacher to student, is a cool green shade from large trees.

†present students and faculty benefited from him.

Echo and extension

Talking about Old Times

Said goodbye to Mirror Lake for many years,
Depend on poems delivered by messenger goose*. 
Poem brushes at opposite corners of the earth, growing old.
Impossible to look back without regret, veil of cloud and smoke.

*Chinese poets often use the goose to describe their method of communication

Refresher

Visiting relatives

Arriving at Kanghe's, a fresh scene and colors:
Flowers delicate, willows beautiful, greens tender and new.
Fishing boat chasing waves, heart unfettered,
To the clear stream's end, and another vista.

l-r: my mom, grandfather, grandmother,
younger uncle, older uncle.

Taibei home garden

All day long, meandering a ten-mat* room,
The small yard barely provides a leisurely view.
Korean grass, thin and soft, evenly paved green.
Mountain hewn ornamental stones, stubborn and dumb.
By the stone, shrub after shrub of azaleas.
In March, the flower blossoms redden as if laughing. 
Gardenia branches', plump after the rain,
Thick fragrance attracts hovering bees.
Pine tree bark sloughs off like dragon scales,
Palm tree frond bends like phoenix tails.
Dark green banyan and new green cypress form rows and rows,
Only the grapevine doesn't thrive.
Orchid, beneath the leaves a secret scent,
By itself in a corner of the wall, goes unnoticed.
Osmanthus** month by month fanning moonlight,
Golden grains clothed in dull colors.
By the fence, the chrysanthemum doesn't wait for Double Yang to bloom,***
Hot climate without frost, no cause for boasting.
Lacking talent, cannot draw a picture,
Inspiration strikes, and so seek material for poems.
Outside the garden, at the neighbor's house, stand a few tall coconut trees, graceful figures****.
Fans swaying in the breeze, evening silhouettes.

*mat refers to a tatami, a standard japanese unit for measuring room area
**particularly suited for the climate, blooms every month
***Chinese like to plant chrysanthemum by fences because a famous poem says:

Picking up chrysanthemum by the eastern fence,
Out of a dream, I see the Southern mountain.
To the point that when you see 'eastern fence' in a poem, it means chrysanthemum.
****The trees were so tall it looked like they were in our garden, but they were in the neighbors.