Far East – KensView

蠶奶奶 (Silkworm Grandma)*

Crunch of mulberry leaves
Lei Zu sips hot tea
Cocoon falls
Garden covered in silk

She spins the reel
Fine filaments threaded in loom
Shimmering prism of colors
Yellow Emperor surpassed!

*Inspired by a famous dress designer of Oakland, California. This poem briefly recounts the story of Lei Zu, a legendary Chinese empress and wife of the Yellow Emperor. While the Yellow Emperor was the purported founder of the central state in China, Lei Zu became a folk goddess for her alleged discovery that silkworms make silk and her attributed inventions of the silk reel and loom. She is affectionately called, 蠶奶奶 (Tsán năinai – Silkworm Grandma).

Sunrise at Yeliu Park

Dawn sun lights the cliffs of Yeliu
Reflecting rays dart to and fro
While ocean waves churn blue and green
A crane stops to drink in the scene

Out along the beachfront I walk
Without the least desire to talk
Winds stir currents tagging my toes
As I skip among with the flows

School children come to march and play
Joyful steps make bridge creak and sway
The old dockman readies his boat
For couples to paddle and float

A dweller gets air at a sill
Dressed warmly against the morning’s chill
“Hot soy milk” is the vendor’s yell
Passers-by rush at him pell-mell

Below the cliff to the tea shops
That is where my winding stroll stops
Into the green tea leaves I peer
Revealing whether hope ends here.

Cloud-wiped Moon

Road turns to path
Passing empty paddies and sleepy huts
Turn, twist_,I pierce bamboo thickets
The valley heat diminishes
I touch the cloud-wiped moon.

Wind sweeps through green glade
A pagoda clings to mountainside
A happy scent of apple blossom
In the distance a soft figure stands
I touch the cloud-wiped moon.