Contemplation

Romance

I

You aren’t serious, when you’re seventeen

One lovely evening, you tire of beer and lemonade,

And of the cafes with their lustrous lamps,

Under the green lime trees of the promenade, you walk

The trees’ scent was lovely on the fine nights of June!

The air felt so soft, you close your eyes;

The wind carries sounds, the city’s not far off

Carrying the scents of vines and the smell of beer

II

Here you see a very small rag

Of a somber blue, resting on a small branch

Pierced by an unlucky star, fleeting away

With soft little shivers, small and very white

June night ! Seventeen! You allow yourself to get drunk

The sap is of champagne and goes to your head..

You’re drifting, and feel a kiss on the lips

And palpates there like something small and alive

III

Your heart is akin to Robinson (Crusoe) traversing romances

When, in the clarity of a pale streetlight

You pass a girl with charming little airs

Under the shadow of her father’s terrifying stiff collar

And because you take her as immensely naive

Toddles along with her little ankle boots,

She turns, alert and with quick movement

And cavatinas slips away in your lips

IV

You’re in love. At least until August (reserved until August)

You’re in love. Your sonnets make her laugh

Your friends are nowhere, you’re not in trend

Then your adored one, one evening, condescends to write to you!

That evening, you return to the gay cafes

You order beer or the lemonade

You aren’t serious when you’re seventeen

And there are green lime trees on the promenade

- Arthur Rimbaud, 1870

Picture in Picture

上海

Buddhist Cat #1

EXPO 2010, Shanghai

Five Years Later

Courtship

Locks of Love

"It is customary to 'lock your soul' together and then throw the key over the edge of the cliff into the misty valleys below."

Old Man Oak

Standing proudly in City Park, New Orleans, this old oak is the epitome of perseverance. After surviving the forces of time and nature (most notably a hurricane named Katrina), Old Man Oak has been thoroughly tested and shaped by its environment: all of its branches are facing west. The ancient Chinese sage Lao Zi once said: “What is firmly established cannot be uprooted; what is firmly grasped cannot slip away.” Because of its strong base and foundations, Old Man Oak can bend and yield, but never break. Let your foundations be your unwavering belief in yourself, and nothing can uproot you. Be like the oak, my friend.

“The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

That stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king,

But lived and died a scrubby thing…

Good timber does not grow in ease.
The stronger wind, the tougher trees

The farther sky, the greater the length

The more the storm, the more the strength,

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In tree and men good timbers grow...”

–Douglas Mallock

Happy New Year everybody!

On the River

This is a picture about the simple pleasures in life: good company, grilled meats, glistening beer bottles, and the glow of the afternoon sun. With the industrial backdrop, this photograph is reminiscent of Seurat's Bathers at Asnières, where working class people are enjoying a relaxing day by the river. The reflective rays of light can divide even the mighty Mississippi and inject life into its calm waters. Against the clear, cloudless sky, a Rorschach blot is created as the setting sun peers through the nearly symmetrical tree. What does it all mean? Well, the answer lies within you.

Notice that there is no lonely soul in this photograph; everyone is surrounded by friends and loved ones. My favorite part of this picture is the couple sitting by the edge of the water, just right to the grill. Is there any more perfect happiness than two lovers looking longingly into each other's eyes, as the warm sun embraces them?