Fall and response

My dear friend Abbi gave me this picture and wrote a poem as a thank you present for helping her move.

Floral splash
Tendrils of kindness
Friendship blossoms in trouble
Forever friend
Reflects rosy hope

I thought in response, as my grandparents practiced, I would write a poem back. Here it is:

Fiery splash
Leaves of laughter
Friendship sustains through rain and cold
Spiritual sister
Embodies evergreen faith

The raw and the cooked

A slight departure--more of a sidebar--from translations of grandparent poetry, yet still Chinese-related, is that I learned today that the words for raw (sen1) and cooked (sou2) can be used to describe feelings. Raw is used when things are a bit scary, uncertain, or uncomfortable, while cooked conveys safety, well-doneness, and confidence.

Two links of interest:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raw_and_the_Cooked
http://ammaproject.tumblr.com