Birthday poem · July 14Minor Heat, the 11th solar term: the heat begins.
Birth character
青 qīng · green-blue
青 means blue-green, the colour of new plants and clear sky.
青山橫北郭
“Green mountains bar the northern sky” — Li Bai, ‘Farewell to a Friend’
The poem
“Casual Quatrain” 絶句漫興
- 糝徑楊花鋪白氈Willow fluff strewn on the path, a white felt rug;
- 點溪荷葉疊青錢lotus leaves dotting the stream, stacked green coins.
- 筍根稚子無人見Among the bamboo roots, the baby shoots no one sees;
- 沙上鳧雛傍母眠on the sand, ducklings sleep beside their mother.
Why this poem
Du Fu on early summer: willow fluff, lotus leaves, bamboo shoots, ducklings.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Minor Heat.