Seaside
What fate is it,
Which brought me to this reef-strewn seashore
And made me decide to stay
In this interval between mountains and seas.
I am on the beach, where the river flows into the sea.
Everywhere scattered around are rocks brought by the waves, and driftwood.
The gifts from the sky and earth are so abundant.
However much your heart and your talent can take in,
You go ahead and take!
I think the body is right.
Although it is not skillful at speaking and elaborating (as the mind is)
It is however more able to act, more sensitive.
It straightly dragged my mind to come here,
“What you need is this!”
And I, so unexpectedly easily,
Was convinced.
________
Sitting on the reef.
Facing the sea, watching aimlessly,
Hungry to watch!
Today the wind is strong,
It blows the waves frothy.
________
In the morning, when the sun jumps out from the sea,
The sea is covered with a shiny silvery glow,
Like a myriad pairs of silver wings rising in waves;
The sun keeps rising,
The sea keeps changing color, too.
At times it is white, at times green,
And then at times blue.
________
Waves are like chased all the way to the shore,
Jumping in somersaults, falling over,
Backing up, and coming one more time,
One more time, and again, one more time…
________
These nights,
The sound of waves is particularly intense,
As if I were lying on the shore
Sleeping with my feet
In the tide of the Pacific Ocean.
________
The coast is swept by the northeastern monsoon winds.
There is no driftwood left to pick up at the mouth of the river.
At this moment, logs are buried deep in the sand.
On the river’s shore, the only things left are a roaring cold wind,
Stinging sand particles projected around, and
A clueless human being, who does not understand how to live on the coast.
________
Life by the sea is so close to the sun.
During the day, the sun gives all out, without reservation.
But at night
All that had been obtained from it,
Through every wash of the waves
Is taken back little by little.
Lonely nights by the sea
May cause depletion.
Even for someone so familiar
With the dark nights in the mountains.
________
Although nature is amiable,
It is however sometimes heartless,
When it is in rage,
Better not mess with it.
________
On the rocks of the reef,
A thousand indolent waves roll up.
The water, so blue, so blue.
On the horizon a crispy clear separating line;
Assembled clouds form a long queue, hanging from the top of the coastal range,
This must be the usual appearance of the coast in clear weather.
Just sitting there, looking at the sea,
Life's hardships,
By the Pacific Ocean in front of me
Are entirely cleansed, entirely soothed.
________
Friends who live close to the cape encouraged me to make a fire.
I found an old iron pot, a few rocks,
Then went to pick a bag of driftwood.
And spent some effort to get the fire going.
But indeed,
In the miserable dark night,
The light of the fire quickly brought a force of warmth and steadiness,
The dogs all came gathering around.
For the first time, we
Had dinner together under the thatched roof shed outside the house.
________
I had always felt that the thatched roof on the balcony was too low,
Blocking the view to the sea.
Today, I changed the chair for a lower bench,
Outside the house, the sea view became at once unobstructed,
And I suddenly understood a principle:
From a lower standpoint,
One has views that are invisible from higher up.
________
Suddenly
A pale yellow transparent moon rises from the sea.
Ah, it is full moon!
The sky is not yet dark.
That glow is as beautiful, as surreal,
As gods descending on earth!
I sit there on my heels,
Between sky and sea.
Until the moon grows whiter and whiter, higher and higher.
And illuminates the quivering surface of the sea, like
Wings of silver.
________
A simple life,
Is an exercise in returning to the origins.
The challenge has to be greatly different from the usual,
So as to bring about change.
Expanding the resilience in life,
Connecting to ocean’s energy,
And to the
Deep silence beneath the turmoil of the surface.
Winter 2009