The eccentric Helan Jinming

Urges us to seize the the day

A Hard Road to Walk (1)
Helan Jinming

Don’t you see?
The well in the valley is deep,
Descend it a hundred feet,
Still bone dry.
Don’t you see?
A shrub just a few inches proud
Of the top of the ridge in the cloud
Feels the sky.
Aren’t life and society just the same?
Don’t be weighed down with self-judgment or blame,
No need to sigh.
Let smiles fill the faces of family and friends,
When we meet let each one be free as he spends,
Don’t be shy.
Winter nights, when friends call, grab your candles and go,
There’s nothing to gain from reliving alone
Times gone by.

贺兰进明  行路难五首·其一
君不见岩下井，百尺不及泉。
君不见山上蒿，数寸凌云烟。
人生相命亦如此，何苦太息自忧煎。
但愿亲友长含笑，相逢莫吝杖头钱。
寒夜邀欢须秉烛，岂得空思花柳年。

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Sorry about the pause in publication. It was just one of those weeks!

We’re back with some more of these Hard Road poems, continuing the carpe diem theme. Our poet is the little-known Helan Jinming, about whom two scurrilous stories circulate: he married a fox (fox spirits represented seductresses, so this may not have been too bad), and he liked to eat dog turds (…there is no cultural explanation that can make this OK).

These poems are a bit scattergun. Helan tells us that its circumstances that determine your success, not your individual effort, so don’t worry about working too hard. Just relax and enjoy whatever comes your way! The opening image of the well and the shrub seems beautifully visual to me.