Changing points of view

Bird by Bai Juyi

Who says all kinds of animals' lives are of no value?
Also bones and flesh, also skin.
Please, don't shoot birds in trees.
Baby in the nest waits for mother's return.

We, as people, need to think about hunting from the bird's point of view.


Looking From Yangming Mountain Towards Taipei  City

Yangming Mountain's color is too irregular:
Early morning clouds; evening foggy steam.
Far away, down in the valley, hazy Taipei City:
Ten-thousand parcels of smoky water, ten-thousand household's lights.

Ten years before this poem was written, Taipei City still had many rice paddies. Now, all these fields have disappeared, replaced by high rise apartments and hotels. There are neon lights at night. So, looking from Yangming Mountain toward the city, one has a very different scene.