Less and more

Plum Flower by Song Dynasty poet Ling Bu (967-1038)

All the flowers withered and dried, alone blooming and pretty,
Fills with beauty and delicacy this small garden.
Sparse silhouettes in differing directions reflect upon the water, clarity to depth
Subtle fragrance lilting by, the moon at golden haze.

He lived in the mountain and liked planting plum flowers. Didn't have a family. Plum flower is his wife. Stork is his kids. 

The editor notes that Ling Bu changed the first words of the last two lines to attain this most highly regarded plum flower poem. Before 'sparse' it had been 'bamboo' and before 'subtle' it had been osmanthus thus simplifying the subject and decreasing the weightiness of the poem. 


New York's Empire State Building

The Empire State's highest floor is the 102nd story.
Holding hands with old companion, happy to climb together.
Wind speed cars constantly come and go,
Electric powered elevators magically up and down.
Far and wide can see for a thousand miles,*
Flashy city seen by ten-thousand household light.**
Observation deck equipped with telescopes,
From which to fully view Wall Street's several rise and falls.

After finishing our duties in Canada, we went to New York and our hotel was next door to the tallest building in the world, the Empire State Building. My wife and I went to the Empire State Building and I wrote this after our visit.

*If you want to see another thousand miles, you need to go up another story.
**typically ten-thousand household hearths describe all rural life