9 Umbrella in mist
Part 1_______________
The wind from south weaves clouds into a song in the sky;
The sunlight was shining silver scale on lake and birds flutter wings to fly;
My door was opened softly, and no person come to visit me?
The morning is beautiful, I went out to see.
Sitting by a window of tea house, I write to Christy:
"That day I was in Hangzhou city, located by the ocean with beautiful West Lake.
Graduated after 2 years in college, and my life has turned in a new stream: I became a newspaper reporter.
With a meeting, we lived in a luxury hotel by the lake, and I got up early, went out for walk,
wandering along a path, the sky was purely blue, the wind sounds its silver bell when flittering over green water;
It was so nice to walk around in morning’s stillness
Close eyes, took a deep breath, I was bathed in moist fresh smell of morning.
A girl was passing me from behind;
At the shoulder passing moment, the youthful fragrant flew by my nostrils
I were cheered, and I turned my face to follow her,
she just passed me, a twinkling smile at the corner of her eyes;
Walking in flowers and grass and trees, her curled hair up and down, jumping over her shoulder, her small round hip under her white skirt were swinging left and right;
I was behind her, and I was watching a moving painting in front of me.
When the path was bending, our eyes met again in a glance,
Her eyes light just cross me then quick move to look elsewhere;
And I also turned my eyes away, pretending didn’t see her;
And the touch remains, the sound like a piece of stone dropped in lake, a pluck on violin string, then all petals of flower spread over the sky,
A rain drop on my lip, O, the sky was started to drop lines of love in rain.
the double temples stand at another side across the lake;
two birds stopped on a tree branch, twittering and chirping rejoice me;
and we, she and me, walking one after;
A gust blew, blew the hem of her skirt, and it flit crossed her red underwear;
the rain became heavier, like a net of music cast over the lake;
She risen her two hands covered on her top of head, and started to run, I did the same after her.
I laughing inside of me, “how could you follow her like that?”
We run, and we run to a store,
She stopped at the door with panting, and I run to her, stopped by her.
we stood, at the door, we were wet, with rain drop on our face, our hands;
looked at each other, we burst in laughing,
she opened the door, and we entered it;
it was stylish decoration stuff shop, flowers pots rows in feet along wall, and windows were hanging colorful tents, raincoats,
The umbrella racket was right next to the florist counter, surrounding were girls lance, rosewood, Chinese vase, satin, velvet, lace, and fashion shoes.
Hoo, umbrella! we need you.
She took one, opened it, like flower opened her petals;
And i took one, open it;
She turned her face to me, looked at the umbrella on my hand;
And I look at her, and the umbrella on her hand.
"I like the one in your hand," she said,
“Hoo, and I like the one you hold." I said to her. "It’s is pretty,"
"Ok, you like this one? I like the one you hand", she said,
We looked for a moment, "Haha….. let’s exchange it",
we almost said at the same time, and we both laughing;
She gave me hers and I gave mine to her.
She spin the umbrella around in her hands, and I did it too,
and the smile on our face, the feeling between us, the sound of drizzling rain fell on the roof, we, two strangers melt in the music of friend.
we hold one umbrella, stood side by side,
the eyes touching, the hearts touching, with the drizzling touching,
When we hold our umbrella out of the shop, it’s still raining.
We stood out of the door for a seconds, looked at the ground;
street was wet with many tiny streams channels their way, and two rills were murmuring into one, in silence.
Looked up the sky, it’s filled with the sound of drizzling rain’s poem;
We stepped into it, as rain whisper poetic flute over our umbrella.
Part 2_____________
we walked in drizzling rain, holding our umbrella side by side,.
The rain drops fell down on, splashed water flower as diamonds.
it fell to the ground, to the surface of lake, sound like murmuring songs between us;
Are you singing a ballad, my dear rain, as mother clapping on her baby?
Are you playing cello music, as unseen finger pluck rain’s string?
I listen to you, I heard you, my dear drizzling, the lovely lyrics;
A bunch of bamboo group gathered beside the road,
And rain drops hang on the tip of slender leaves like earrings;
we walked on stone board along a tiny alley,
a few red lanterns hang on the wood house’ windows.
We walked together, bent our head to the ground in silence,
A big water jar under eave of house, the rain dropped from roof,
small trees crawled over white fences, we were walking in slow pace,
I tapped my shoes on the road, like kid press hand on piano’s key, she smiled;
She spin her umbrella a bit, the rain drops spread on me;
We walked back to that path we met, we were in rain’s sound, the sound of quietness.
stopped near the “broken bridge”, stood there, we side by side, holding our umbrella;
for a while, we walked again, stopped a decorate door, covered by weaving many flower and leaves.
The whole lake was in drizzling rain,
I raised my umbrella higher than hers, tried to cover her;
And our umbrella touched each other, we stood side by side.
It’s so quiet, only rain sound playing over our umbrellas.
The hill, the “Su bank”, the lotus field, and the temples were all in illusion of drizzling,
We were encircled in nature’s softness, we were in the net of thin line of harp.
She hold the umbrella, i stood aside with her, we stood there in silence,
One end was on the sky, and another end in the lake.
We stood in between, listen, peace, in grace with their playing,
We, she and me, holding our umbrella, and we were in sound of nature music,
our umbrella become our music tool, become the part of it
She raised her umbrella higher, and turned her face to me;
I saw her eyes glinted as her hair was swaging in air;
The wind was flapping slightly her blouse,
I could see her slender waist vaguely,
And the curving line from her arms down to waist;
We stood there, she and me, by the lake.
O my girl, your face smile hidden in lake’s ripples,
Your skirt is flying that on your charming body I desire;
And your lips, that rose-hue lips moist in love I was longing to kiss.
Just as I was bending my face to her, she squatted down, stretch her palm into the lake.
And she stood up, hold the water, which startled falling down between her fingers;
The water drop down to the lake, with that round, crystal water dot in air,
"I have to go now," she said in soft sound.
Silence, I was no words to speak out.
“Could we meet again? I am going to leave this city in days”
“When, are you not live this city?” she said.
“That’s right, you could come here tomorrow, tomorrow morning? I would be waiting for you”
“I always come to the lake in early morning.”
“I would come here, waiting for you.”
She gave me a nod, and bent her head, holding her umbrella, left.
I eyes on her, watching her turning, and walked away.
her umbrella, moving with her, a flower in the thin lines of drizzling.
Part 3 ____________
The lake was in fluff fog when I came next morning.
I was waiting for her by the lake.
The trees, the grass, the flowers, the “Su bank”, the lotus field were blurring in fog, the fog’s milky softness,
The broken bridge laid there like a piano, a white piano in fog;
And a little baby tree, stood humbly beside it, like a cello with fuzzing strings;
I love this fog, suspending over the lake like a dream;
A wedding gown, with silky lance weaved over the breeze;
They are tiny water droplets floating over lake with their tender feet;
They are little fairies coming to dance on the morning’s ripples.
Lifted a corner of this darling fog, a few lines of old poems flowed in,
“When the moon light was shimmering over the bridge with the twenty four holes,
Where is the place that charming girl teach how to blow the flute?”
As these poem’s sliding in my mind, she came.
She hold her umbrella came, and she stood beside me.
“How come you still bring your umbrella with no rain?”
She smiles, “I would like you to have it, and it would keep you remember our day.”
She raised her umbrella higher, let me in.
O my sweet girl, I had no word speak out, I just stay by her,
We stood in one umbrella today, in no rain but fog.
our bodies were close together. I bend face to close her.
The lake was in silence of fog, the softness of spirit, and my heart was stirring.
One of my hand hold her hand that holding the umbrella;
She looked at my hand, and moved to look at the lake,
My hand was holding hers as she hold her umbrella,
Then I hold it to my lips, a kiss on it, a cold hand;
She squatted down, stretched her hand, hold water, and stood up,
“Give me your hand,” she said, as I hold out my hand, she let the water drop
It dropped, slipped down from her hand, dropped into my palm, and I hold the water she took from the lake;
She watched at me, smiling curved her lips;
I looked at her, and I hold her hand up, put it to my lips;
My lips was wet, and her hand was cold,
And I hold her hand to my lips, I tasted the water, her hand, they were sweet;
The water is sweet, and this girl is my honey.
My hold her palm, kiss on it, and kissed her each of her slender finger,
She face up her head, and I hold her, press a kiss on her eyes.
She closed her eyes, let my lip stop there,
I pressed my kiss deeper on her eye, then her cheek, her lips,
And her eyes, and her lips again pressed with my kiss in love.
In the moment, the bell from temple on the top of hill blows,
The sound was floating in the fog,
The sound was spreading in the softness of fog, the veil of lake of bride;
O bell, are you playing the song I am singing love to my girl?
Or are you praying for me to make my best wish for her?
“The bell is blowing, people there are being blessed….” I said to her.
“Yeah, the bell strike for infant of grass, for the bud of flower; they were sleeping in fog.”
And we pray for them together, with peace, with patience, and with love.
“I live not far from here, I hear the bell sing all the time,”
She turned to me, looked at me, and facing to the lake again.
I hold her waist in silence, my hand was on her body.
The bell’s sound spread over, and over…..
“Sometime I play Lute (shape like guitar) by the lake”, she said,
“Ow……really?” I was in surprise to hear it, “I play Erhu,”
"Do you?" she said that with light in her eye.
O my girl, the music of lute popped up in my mind and it’s flowing.
I could hear the sound of lute, your playing now,
You are playing your lute, sitting a bench by the lake;
I’d like to take a ripple from the lake, and a branch from tree,
I’d like to play my Erhu with you, lute plus Erhu.
The sound would be melodious like words crystal;
You play your lute in the pure moonlight as flowers stood beside in joy;
Free worries in your heart wind in air,
And the plucking as fresh grass smile with glee.
we were playing for this fog, for this broken bridge,
for that infant of grass, for the bud of flower along the bank,
We were playing our song as the whole lake was listening,
O girl, my lovely girl, I bow myself to this morning, to this earth;
To greeting you with my smile to this earth,
The ripple is whispering under your finger, your caress,
And that simple song singing in our hearts.
“I have to go now,” she said that again to me.
The bell still floating over lake
"may i go with you for sending you off a little while?" I asked her.
"..... if you will..." she answer is dim and uncertain, but her eyes was on my face.
we walked on, “let me hold the umbrella” I said.
She loose her hand, and I hold the umbrella.
I stretched my hand to hold her waist.
We were walking on in the rain.
In silence, in silence of thousands of words with love buried inside of me.
But no word coming out,
my right hand, little finger, hooked with her little finger,
Little by little, our finger were twinging together, and tighter,
I slowly grasp her whole left hand in my hand.
Rubbing her hand, she remain in still, with a quivering of thrill that I felt,
I felt that she was holding her breath in nervous
my head lean on her hair, and she lean her head on me,
I lean on my head on her hair, and she lean her head on my shoulder.
We were in this way walking, and she stopped.
“I have to leave you now.” she said it’s almost at her home,
I looked at her, hold her hand,
she bent her head, eyes on ground.
let me kiss your hand again, in my dream some day,
Your finger will be pleasant with my kiss in love by each of inches;
I would like to hold you in my arm for a while,
Hold your slender waist once more like your sleek hair around your forehead,
As I made these wishes inside me,
She approached me, give me a kiss in sudden, on my face, then walked away in fog.
I stood there, with the kiss she left on my face,
As the broken bridge was still in tranquil there.
But my heart was as if pressed by a stone.
It was so tight, and I was barely breath.
She has gone, and I was like pulled something from my heart, the pain.
she seems be still remained in front of me as I walked back, her skirt swaged from side to side, as wisp cloud swinging in breeze.
…..
Dear Christy, she comes in furry fog with my music in the softness of morning;
And she has gone with the music of lute she plays inside me;
we were stranger at beginning, stayed two days in drizzling;
and we are friend dear each other with the fog of love.
I stopped by the lake, it was no rain.
the lute sound come to me cross the lake....her fingers were plunking the love strings in my mind.
…………
The wind over sky weaves clouds into a song, a song in softness of fog;
The sunlight was sparkling silver scale on leaves,
the poem after the drizzling rain in romance;
My door was opened softly, and no person to visit?
