永遇乐 The eternal encounter with pleasures

永遇乐

三十有九，青丝尤在，白发悄生。一晃人到中年， 总结人生最佳境界。

自在田园，实而不奢，丰简随意

早茶夜酌，晴耕雨读，忙里亦有闲情 墨笔丹青，长词小令，阳春白雪可以 大排当，挤车还价，下里巴人也行 艳事闲愁，西窗云雨，千金此境难买 名声道场，适可而止，万贯换心清 众派经书，出于一辄，神明原本是我 无党派，万国公民，自成一统。 二零零九年十二月十四日于新加坡  Pretext:  "The eternal encounter with pleasures" is not the title of my poem. It is the name of a style of poetry dating back to the 11th century in the Song dynasty. However, since the name of the style describes exactly what I want to say in my poem, I will leave it as the title. Each ancient style of poetry  is a set model and one fills the rhythm with words. Originally this kind of poem is used for set tunes of songs - this explains why the length of each sentence is fixed. It may sounds restraint, but the liberty of playing with the words are unlimited, if one is good at words.    Today, nobody writes poems in this style which makes it all interesting to write in this way. Translating a poem written in an ancient language is the most challenging, especially when Chinese is a language so flexible and versatile but I will give it a try. THE ETERNAL ENCOUNTER WITH PLEASURES Prelude: Thirty nine years escaped through my fingers. My dark silky hair is still shiny but the gray has sneaked in. Time to savor the ultimate pleasures in life. Standing steadily, high on my own, Choices? -extravaganza or simple, it is up to me Tea in the morning, drinks at night, When it's sunny, I cultivate the garden; When it rains, I catch up with reading. I like to keep myself busy, leisurely Showing off calligraphy or writing poems, The high society stuff, I master at ease. Haggling for an egg or fighting for the bus The low class exercises, I handle accordingly

Oh colorful affairs, romantic nonsense 

And love making that evokes thunders and light
I won't exchange these for a million gold

Fame and glory, or similar games 
Roll up the sleeves and play full heartedly
but I could  be the mother of  zen - if it suits me

Sutras of all doctrines and bibles of all times
Flow from the same stream 

I am God and let God be me

I am an etre absolu of no association,
And a devoted vagabond of the universe
that merges with the "I"