DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea
Reply
“Drinking Alone in the Rainy Season” by Tao Yuanming [陶渊明] (a.k.a. Táo Qián, or 陶潜]
Whatever lives must meet its end --
That is the way it has always been.
If Taoist immortals were once alive,
Where are they today?
The old man who gave me wine
Claimed it was the wine of the immortals.
One small cup and a thousand worries vanish;
Two, and you'll even forget about heaven.
But is heaven really so far away?
It is best to trust in the Tao.
A crane in the clouds has magic wings
To cross the earth in a moment.
It's been forty years of struggle
Since I first became reclusive.
Now that my body is nearly dead,
My heart is pure. What more is there to say?
NOTE: This is the translation of Sam Hamill found in The Poetry of Zen (2004); Shambhala Publications: Boston, MA, p.24.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
PROMPT: Dinosaur
Do not make me bring Jeff Goldblum up in here. [No wonder they are still rebooting those movies every two years, people are not getting the message.]
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Double-Decker Trams of Hong Kong
“Daybreak” by John Donne [w/ Audio]
STAY, O sweet, and do not rise!
The light that shines comes from thine eyes;
The day breaks not: it is my heart,
Because that you and I must part.
Stay! or else my joys will die
And perish in their infancy.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
PROMPT: Plane Tickets
I’d start by going to wherever was listed in the destination block on the plane ticket. Maybe I’d spend some time there or maybe I’d hop on other transportation and go somewhere else in the region / country. Most places with an airport are worth seeing, but if you ever fly into Belize City, get out. (It’s an armpit surrounded by paradise on all sides.)
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Family Resemblance [Kyōka]
Chinese temple pond:
dragonhead tortoise sculpture.
live turtles swim
and sun in those waters.
do they see the likeness?
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Long Gone Hong Kong [Free Verse]
In my youth, "Honk Kong"
Came after "Made in __"
As often as did any
Set of letters.
I can't remember the last time
I saw that declaration.
I do hear references to the
Hong Kong Markets opening.
They tore down the
Kowloon Walled City ---
A chock a block, chunky
Architectural cancer growth
Where people lived squeezed
More than a million to the
Square kilometer.
But still there are places where people
Are packed and packed --
While densely stacked --
In high-rise Building-Cities.
(If a City-State is a place in which
City and Nation are identical,
A Building-City is where a
Building contains all the
Functions of a city.)
One could live without leaving
If one didn't love sunshine.
But people do love sunshine.
And mountains and beaches,
Which Hong Kong also --
Against all reason --
Has in abundance.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Hong Kong Skylines
“To a Butterfly” by William Wordsworth [w/ Audio]
Stay near me—do not take thy flight!
A little longer stay in sight!
Much converse do I find in Thee,
Historian of my Infancy!
Float near me; do not yet depart!
Dead times revive in thee:
Thou bring'st, gay Creature as thou art!
A solemn image to my heart,
My Father's Family!
Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days,
The time, when in our childish plays
My sister Emmeline and I
Together chased the Butterfly!
A very hunter did I rush
Upon the prey:—with leaps and springs
I follow'd on from brake to bush;
But She, God love her! feared to brush
The dust from off its wings.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 