H: When I went to Peggy's Cove It was rainy and cold.

(Postcard photo by Dale Wilson)

 A gem (to me anyway) on the other side of the post card.)

Peggy's Cove No. 2 (of 2)
-- by H (then a 9-year-old Grade 3 student)
     written on-site on June 26, 2014.** 

     I went to Peggy's Cove,
    There was an ocean and I almost dove.
    Rocks, grass, and flowers,
    It was raining at that hour.
    There were lobsters, too,
    Daddy, Mommy, and I were wet, so were you!    

** (with some assistance by a walking rhyming-dictionary.) 
Peggy's Cove is a favourite Canadian tourist spot: 
a rugged fishing village on the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia.

This little poem "survives" because, as a special favour for grandpa, the poet wrote it on a postcard (see above photo) and mailed it from Peggy's Cove post office back to his residence (while the grandparents were accompanying the family on a 7-day cruise from Quebec City to Boston). 

 At Quebec City, our two families boarded the Holland America ms Veendam for a 7-day New England cruise.

                                                                                                            Rocks, grass, and flowers, 
                                                                                               It was raining at that hour.

But O, H's Peggy's Cove Poem No. 1 is somehow "lost"! 

From memory (and I am not too sure), it's something like:

        

          When I went to Peggy's Cove

        It was rainy and cold.

        The red and white lighthouse was tall,

        And I was so small ...

        Today, it was all mist and rain,

        One sunny day, I'll be back again! 

(Other places of interest en route ... for example:)

  

                   Simple Shao Lin stick-fighting techniques taught here. Any takers? 
                   Ee-aii-yaak! (3 consecutive strikes!)

 Members of the exclusive "Young Contemporary Poets" Club having some quiet moments at the edge of the Atlantic, NS. 

(The older guy is of course young at heart!)

LOVE THE CHILDREN... 

As a continuation of humanity, they are truly priceless!

J: Lobsters for Lunch -- I dropped the lobster traps

He is risen! Happy Easter!

And one of the "lost ones" has now been found.

I was glad that, while de-cluttering my desk recently, I uncovered a piece of scrap paper on which was written the following little poem by my grandson. What a pleasant surprise! (Some photos have been added here for presentation purposes.)

  One-way street for hungry lobsters!    Colourful Floats             Danger sign at Peggy's Cove

Lobsters for Lunch
-- by J , written on June 26, 2014 near Peggy's           Cove, Nova Scotia en route the 7-day Quebec City-                Boston New England cruise on Holland America's ms Veendam.

I dropped the lobster traps on the sea bed,
For them to crawl in, the lobsters red.
On the spike I put on fish as bait,
I took the boat back to wait and wait.
Then I checked the traps for lobsters before lunch;
O It's so delicious, munch! munch! munch!

Of course, I did help with some leading rhyming suggestions.
And has anyone ever seen a "red", live lobster? Haha.
But the important thing is to keep the then 11-year-old interested and his poetic thoughts flowing. At my urging and with a dangling carrot (of cash awards), the two grand kids each wrote four short poems on-site about the interesting things they experienced on the cruise; this is the only one salvaged for J. He wrote the short poem after a "show and tell talk" on the lobster trap by our local guide Bruce who drove the party of six tourists around in his van. 

J simply has forgotten all his poems now. Likewise for his younger sister. O, No big deal perhaps for the kids and parents, but not so for this "poet-grandpa"... ha! 
Actually, as "straight-A or almost straight-A students", they did not find writing the poems too difficult. It is like doing a 6-line word puzzle, with suitable rhymes provided on demand.
 Yummy! (Photo from Holland America Line guide book)

 O Why me, eh?       Lobster boats      When will I see you again?

孫星衍 最難風雨故人來 How joyous when an old friend comes

「莫放春秋佳日過，

    最難風雨故人來。」

     -- 清‧孫星衍 楹聯

A Famous Chinese Couplet
-- Sun Xing-yan (Qing Dynasty)  
-- Translated by Frank C Yue

Don't let the fine Spring and Autumn days slip by again;

How joyous when an old friend comes in the 

wind and rain!  

The following commentary culled from the net:

詩人說道，不要讓大好時光匆匆流逝，應當珍惜美好時光；而有朋友在風雨交加時節前來探望，最是人生快事。

清代學者 孫星衍，為乾隆朝榜眼，著名小學、金石學家，也是藏書家、目錄學家。年少時，與楊芳燦、洪亮吉、黃景仁等一樣以文學見長，袁枚稱為他為「天下奇 才」。一生博覽群書，勤於著述，阮元即曾聘他為詁精經舍教習，並主講鍾山書院。其人才學博洽，「莫放春秋佳日過，最難風雨故人來」這一聯句，即是他一生所 寫過的篆字楹聯中最知名者。

亦有說此聯句，乃出自明代的馮子振《鸚鵡曲‧山亭逸興》一詩：「嵯峨峰頂移家住，是個不唧溜樵父。爛柯時樹老無花，葉葉枝枝風雨。故人曾喚我歸來，卻道不如休去。指門前萬疊雲山，是不費青蚨買處。」孫星衍之聯句雖未必出自於此，然意境略有相通之處，仍可一併參考。

孫 星衍這一聯句，以極淺明之文字，道盡人生最至關緊要的兩件大事，一是享受春秋佳日之美好，二是友朋造訪之美至樂至喜至。就前句「莫放春秋佳日過」而言，語 本陶潛《移居》詩「春秋多佳日，登高賦新詩」之意而來，明顯具有人生貴閒適，而登高賦詩正是春秋佳日最具妙趣之事。可見，孫星衍對於人生之體會何等自在自 適。

而後句「最難風雨故人來」之「風雨」本指大自然刮風下雨，亦比喻惡劣的處境。《詩經‧鄭風‧風雨》篇所云之境，恰與此同：「風雨凄凄，雞鳴喈喈，既見君子。云胡不夷。風雨瀟瀟，雞鳴膠膠。既見君子，云胡不瘳。風雨如晦，雞鳴不已。既見君子，云胡不喜。」

在風雨交加之淒冷中，人容易感到孤獨或身處危難，這時一旦有故友風雨無阻，不邀而至，最令人心喜，此乃人生最難能可貴之事。是以，「最難風雨故人來」成為傳誦不歇的名句。

Never find yourself in Any dangerous scene

A Winning Self-Defence  Strategy
-- by Frank C Yue

Shun all hazardous scenes: It is imperative.
Always be prepared, alert and non-combative.
Walk away from insults, any threatening stranger;
Don't be bewildered when suddenly facing danger.
Against hostility, assertiveness apportion;
Be calm, confident, tactful before any action.

Of your own strengths and the enemy's, be sure.
But move like lightning when action is assured.
Expect the unexpected: Leave first strike to the attacker; 
When shoved time and again just his wrist or little finger.
Always apply minimal force to match the mug;
Never blindly pursue a desperate thug.

When you're choked from the front with outstretched arms
Break free with strong up-and-down ripping palms,
Palm-strike his chin, spear-hand his throat -- the key
Is to strike through the target! -- and kick his knee.
The best defence is no offence and common sense.
Win without fighting, or run away, if you can:

Never find yourself in
Any dangerous scene.

元好問 問世間情為何物 I ask of the world, "What is love" and why

【雁邱詞】

元好問 (1190-1257) ，字裕之，號遺山。

太和五年乙丑歲(1205年)，赴試并州，道逢捕雁者云：『今

旦獲一雁，殺之矣。其脫網者悲鳴不能去，竟自投地死。』

予因買得之，葬之汾水之上，累石為識，號曰雁邱。時同行

者多為賦詩，予亦有《雁邱詞》。

問世間情為何物，直教生死相許。          1

天南地北雙飛客，老翅幾回寒暑。          2

歡樂趣，離別苦，就中更有癡兒女。       3

君應有語，渺萬里層雲， 

千山暮雪，只影向誰去。                         4

橫汾路，寂寞當年簫鼓，荒煙依舊平楚。 5

招魂楚些何嗟及，山鬼暗啼風雨。            6

天也妒，未信與，鶯兒燕子俱黃土。         7

千秋萬古，為留待騷人，

狂歌痛飲，來訪雁邱處。                           8

《雁邱詞》：邱，同丘。

1 問世間情為何物：有版本為…'問世間情是何物'。

   直教：竟使。

   生死相許：生死相從。

2 雙飛客：大雁雙宿雙飛。

3 就中：當中。

4 君：指大雁。

   只影向誰去：隻影孤單為誰奔波。

5 橫汾：葬雁的汾水。

   寂寞當年簫鼓：如今寂寞，當年漢武帝簫鼓鳴兮。

                         漢武帝«秋風辭»: ˹泛樓船兮濟汾問，橫中流兮

                         

                         揚素波，簫鼓鳴兮發棹歌。˺

   平楚：楚指叢木，意謂平原上的樹木。

6 招魂：為雁招魂。

   楚些：«楚辭•招魂»: 句尾皆有‘些’字。

   何嗟及：嗟嘆無濟於事。

   山鬼：«楚辭•九歌•山鬼»: 指山神，此指雁魂。

7 天也妒，未信與，鶯兒燕子俱黃土：

   

   天也妒︰蒼天見到這情景該也會既羡且妒。

   

   未信與: (與，同歟) 不相信嗎?  (請看...)

   

   鶯兒燕子俱黃土：殉情雁子不 與普通鶯燕寂寂無名變為黃  

  

   土。

8 騷人：詩人。

Song of the "Wild Geese Mound"

-- by Yuan Haowen (1190-1257)

-- Translated by Frank C Yue

Prologue

In the fifth year of Tai He (1205), on my way to the official 

examination at Pengzhou, I chanced upon a wild-geese 

hunter who said, "I caught a goose this morning and killed it. 

The other goose that escaped from my net wailed sadly and 

would not leave. Then it committed suicide by crashing onto 

the ground." So I bought the dead fowls, buried them by the 

Feng River, piled rocks on the site as a marker and called it 

the wild geese mound. At the time, most of my companions 

wrote poems about this incident. I also wrote the "Wild-

Geese Mound Ci (Song)" as follows:    

 "The Wild-Geese Mound Song" 

I ask of the world, "What is love" and why

Love just moves some creatures to live or die?

To the north and to the south too,

The pair of travellers flying --

Many a winter and summer through,

The loving old couple been winging.

O Such joy and fun,

But sorrow follows when the parting's done.

These are obsessed soul-mates also.

The surviving fowl would ask (with a bitter smile) --

Through cloud layers stretching thousands of miles,

Above myriad hills and evening snow,

To whom should this lonely shadow go?

By the Feng River (where they're buried),

Gone are the songs and music merry; 

Above the woods on the plain rolling,

Desolate smoke still a-rising.

Calling forth the ghosts of the geese dead,

I sigh and sigh in vain instead.

Amidst the wind and rain,

I seem to hear the geese cries again.

Heaven may be jealous too,

Won't you believe it? (I'll tell you true):

When orioles, swallows die they'd never

Gain anything like glory;

But the lover-geese shall live forever

In our hearts and our stories.

From here to eternity,

Poets would come to the Wild Geese Mound

To drink and sing praises mighty

To the Faithful Couple by great Love bound.

若要功夫深 鐵杵磨成針 To train for supreme skills and be fit as a fiddle

若要功夫深，
鐵杵磨成針。

To train for supreme skills and be fit as a fiddle,
You'll have to grind the iron rod into a sharp needle!


台上一分鐘，
台下十年功。

Just one minute's performance on the stage (in the spotlight)
Demands ten years off-the-stage hard training (with no oversight).