“Oh, when will autumn moon…

“Oh when will autumn moon and spring flowers end?
How many past events I’ve known.
The east wind buffeted my room again last night,
I cannot bear to remember the bright moon of the old country.
The marble steps and carved balustrades must still be there,
The people’s rosy cheeks are all that’s changed.
How much sorrow can one man have to bear?
As much as a river of spring water flowing east.

-LiYu

how long fall moon and spring bloom shall last?
how many happenings of life have passed?
a northwest wind rattled my window last night
i’ve forgotten how summer moon glows full-bright
old stairway and front porch of home still there
how many memories must bereaved woman bear?
faded are rosy cheeks of my childhood
as river of time flows through tears’ wildwood

-lynn


https://dversepoets.com/2021/04/20/poetics-china-kingdom-of-the-poem/

Laura Bloomsbury invites us to imitate Chinese-style poetry at dVerse poetics. First stanza is a translation from Chinese, second is my interpretation with added rhyme.

in memorium

We lament with this family suffering awe-ful grief. Beloved infants lost at 26 weeks gestation; twin grandbabies happily anticipated. Expectant mother, more than halfway through pregnancy, heard heartbeats and viewed ultrasounds but no more… no more expectations, no more movement, no more fast swooshing of babies’ hearts beating their distinct rhythms. Only mother’s lonely heart beats now, heavy with slow sorrow.

The relentless spring rains mirror this drowning grief. Tears falling in torrents, flooded emotions. Erosion of the soul. What kind of broken world is this, where little lives can be cut short by the cord that was their lifeline? We may ask “why?” yet not receive an acceptable answer to the anguished questions. We have only our faith in God himself to cling to. Lord, have mercy on your children. As we remember precious twins taken; remember us too, for we are dust.

 

grief’s painful journeyIMG_1344 copy

rosebuds fade…family mourns

inadequate words