li qingzhao

The lotus has wilted, only a faint perfume remains;

On the bamboo mat there’s a touch of autumn chill.

Softly I take off my silk dress

And step on board my orchid skiff alone.

Who is sending me the letter of brocade

From beyond the clouds?

When the wild geese return**

The moon will be flooding the West Chamber.

Flowers fall and drift away,

Water glides on,

After their nature.

Our yearning is the sort

Both sides far apart endure–

A melancholy feeling there there’s no resisting.

As soon as it leaves the eyebrows

It surges up in the breast*.

*cited: Ci-pomes of Li Qingzhao: A New English Translation, Sino-platonic Papers. No 13, October, 1989

**Wild geese were thought to be bearers of letters, especially love messages, because of their regular migrations from north to south and vice versa.

lens-artists: looking back

through the lenses of a Ricoh Caplio GX100 and Sony NEX-5N to the year 2013

violets on the gate–
even at night
sweet nostalgia ~Issa*

Sony NEX-5N: f/10 1/100s 27mm
Ricoh Caplio GX100: f/2.5 1/10s 5.1mm
Ricoh Caplio GX100: f/2.5 1/8s 5.1mm

I recently gained access to all the images posted to WordPress beginning in 2011 so this is an exciting way to begin looking back.

Thank you Sofia for this lens-artists invitation: looking back.

*cited: http://www.haikuguy.com

lens-artist: setting a mood

Looking backward … I cannot see the ancients days. Looking forward … I cannot see ages yet to come. Only heaven and earth have remained, and will remain forever … I am alone, I grieve, I drop tears into the dust. ~Chen Tzu-ang*

Images that speak of solitary … alone … by one’s self evoke feelings of contemplative sadness.

winterwalk

Leya has extended a lens-artists challenge: setting a mood

*cited: Translator: Anonymous. The Project Gutenberg Ebook of the Jade Flute, by Various

thursday’s special: pick a word

observing

The skill of observing involves using all of the senses, as appropriate, to find out about the characteristics, properties and attributes of objects, places and events. Observations can be made directly with the senses or indirectly through the use of instruments that extend our capacity to observe.

Paula’s Lost in Translation: Pick a Word

wow…words of wisdom

Even in Kyoto-

hearing the cuckoo’s cry-

I long for Kyoto. ~Bushō

“Solastalgia conveys the distressing homesickness we experience without leaving home, when home has altered beyond recognition, such as when seeing a familiar and beloved environment that has been destroyed by drought, fire or flood, by the extremes of climate change.”

cited: Dharma Talk bySensei Deirdre Eisho Peterson – Red Rocks Zen Circle

Note: “Solastalgia” was coined by a contemporary Australian environmental philosopher named Glenn Albrecht, and it is a word that comes out of the climate crisis.  This word solastalgia combines the words solace, desolation and nostalgia.

Paula’s Lost in Translation Words of Wisdom

lens-artists: walking the neighborhood

This week’s Lens-Artists, walking the neighborhood, challenge is offered by Travels and Trifles.

During the heat of the summer, walks occurred during the early morning with its cool(er) temperatures. This time of day parking lots are mostly empty, one may greet people who rise early to walk their dogs or to begin their day in quiet contemplation. Well … there are people who are multi-tasking on these morning photo walks as they open their eyes to see life through a camera lens and begin the challenge of 10,000 steps walking to the groceries to buy Skyr and raspberries … hum. Skyr, blackberries and nuts … hum, hum. Blue berries, anyone?

As my great-granddaughter is known to have said, “It sounds like a parfait!” I read that parfait is the French word for “perfect.” Creamy vanilla skyr is the best! Hum, hum, hum!

Thank you Tina for this challenge. It was fun.