Thursday Walk|Poetry Thursday

   

Rachel has generously sent me a translation of the China Daily article that was linked to Watermark:

I'm only hemidemisemiliterate in Chinese, but this is what I think it says:

A Creative Landscape Indicates a Romantic Existence
Aren't we always looking to lend our lives something of a romantic sensibility? So--have you experienced the beauty of artistic representation? People often regret the lack of poetry in their lives. What would happen if you took every incident of your life and expressed it through a picture and a poem? Well, you'll have to savor the sensation yourself. Don't hesitate--throw off your trepidation--once you've tried it, you may just find the romance that's been missing from your life for so long.

The word for "romance" or "romantic" in Chinese, pronounced langman, is a transliteration from English. The first definition given in the Dictionary of Modern Chinese, the dictionary in most common use (it seems to me) in the PRC, is "rich in poetic feeling; full of imagination." I don't think the word has acquired as strong associations with vapidity and silliness in Chinese as it has in English, but instead has sort of attached itself to a set of traditional attributes of the scholar-poet.

Ah, of course -- a scholar-poet. Just how I've always imagined myself.

I am no Pollyanna, and generally averse to the too-quick assurance that every cloud has a shiny lining -- but it's true that one consequence of illness is a widening, and sometimes a deepening, of time. Time to think, to read, to look.

Together with time, I have been blessed with the technology to share my observations -- a digital camera; a little laptop. Interesting, and sometimes beautiful, things to look at. This columbine comes back, year after year, and seeds itself in neighboring gardens. 

This van, which sits in the parking lot, offending some neighbors and intriguing me, has aged -- perhaps not with grace, but with style.

Like me.

We each have our own way.

Today my way is somewhat incoherent -- too tired, but determined to post. Please bear with me.

[My Bread Van photoset on flickr.]

Comments

[tinker]

These photos intrigue me; they're very textural. I like them all, but the second and fourth ones are especially appealing to me. Thanks for sharing them.

Congratulations on your international renown!

[endment]

May I also add my congratulations!

I am intrigued with your "snapshot poem" love the concept as well as your results.

[The Heretik]

Where are the scholar poets? And what about the new romantics? The old romantics are curious.

[SB]

Are there new romantics?

It seems difficult to be a romantic these terribly realistic days...