Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand:
Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!
“Second Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]
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Author Archives: B Gourley
The Slow Flow [Haiku]
teal mountain stream
flows past rock's fluid striations,
proof flow can be slow.
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DAILY PHOTO: Tunnel of Nine Turns
Jungle [Common Meter]
They say jungles are chaotic.
I find them as silent
As the world that is aquatic...
Though no less violent.
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“An Akan Lullaby” by Anonymous [w/ Audio]
Someone would like to have you for her child
but you are mine.
Someone would like to rear you on a costly mat
but you are mine.
Someone would like to place you on a camel blanket
but you are mine.
I have you to rear on a torn old mat.
Someone would like to have you as her child
but you are mine.
NOTE: I have no specific author or translator information for this poem. (The former may not be surprising as it may be lost to history.) At any rate, my source is Classic Poems to Read Aloud, an anthology selected by James Berry (1995; Kingfisher Publications,) and it was titled “Lullaby.” That book cites a Cambridge University Press volume entitled African Poetry, edited by Ulli Beier, as its source.
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The Right Angle [Haiku]
overgrown: ruins
hidden from the side are
revealed from above.
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BOOKS: “Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the Basics” ed. by John Pasden
Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the Basics by John PasdenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Website
This is the first in a series of books that present the rules and structure of grammar for Mandarin Chinese along with examples. As the subtitle suggests, it covers only the rudiments of sentence structure as well as the most elementary ways of expressing existence, possession, location, number, and a few other basic grammatic functions, as well as teaching the reader how to count and express time and date.
The examples are all presented in characters, pinyin [w/ tone markers,] and the English translation. The explanations are straightforward, and the examples offer basic and useful sentences and phrases.
I found this book to be beneficial, and have obtained the next volume, which expands upon the basics. The book presents a simple and painless approach to Chinese grammar. I’d recommend this book for any fellow neophytes just learning Chinese.
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DAILY PHOTO: A Few Views of Sevanavank
Swimmingly [Lyric Poem]
Moving at a glide --
No strain, no effort,
Rolling side to side,
No lord or escort.
Things are going SWIMMINGLY.
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“Absolute” [Poetry Style #1] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]
With wear you will decay outside,
But inside resides the vital force.
Approach the Absolute through the Void:
One's strength will grow, and vim will course.
You can know the world and its Way,
Across space and time -- to the Source.
To desolation range hang dark clouds,
Air still as latitudes of the horse,
Move beyond all one knows by sight,
And gain the Center -- but not by force --
Hold onto this strength by hook or crook,
And flow the Endless by watercourse.
NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the first of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 雄浑, and its translated titles include: “Energy – Absolute” [Giles] and “Vigorous.”
Tiger Riding for Beginners 