TZEMIN ITION TSAI

 

 

Autumn’s Whisper

Eternal In Solitude

 

Neon reflections flow like water, counting moments lost.

An old man’s shadow clings to the wall, murmuring to the wind.

Since fallen leaves can cover the streets,

Why does no one remember the old poems when they are scattered?

His steps press lightly upon fading echoes,

Each leaf carried away by unseen currents.

He bends low, gazing deep,

As though only now seeing yesterday’s departure—never to return.

 

Autumn wind floods the streets,

Its taste fills him, sweet as ripened persimmons, bitter as passing years.

He fears being forgotten, like a fig tree barren in the garden.

The television roars, a market of noise,

But a distant cat’s cry strikes truer than all its clamor.

With solitude as his ink, he paints time into whispers,

Staring out toward the edges of fleeting days.

 

Standing in the dawn’s pale light,

His gaze brushes the autumn song, still unweakened.

A faint smile graces his face, surrendering all to frost and wind.

A child’s laughter drifts past,

And fallen leaves dance freely in the breeze.

His soft sigh of dwindling years,

Rises far away, merging with the faint afterglow.

Of a starless, eternal sky.

  

Small Town Washed Away

By Heavy Rain   

 

Rain, caught off guard

Like the sky, still in the cracks that collapse silently

The rain hits the tiles, and a piece of music sounds heavy

Streets and alleys, rolling mud

Erase them together, the shoe prints and the past

 

At the entrance of the village, the old locust tree is bent in the wind and rain

It looks like an old man struggling to hold on to his roots.

The river is out of control and intends to swallow everything along its shores

On the river, the paper boat was left by the child

Let the river be ravaged by the angry waves

 

In the square in the center of the town, the water was up to the knees

People stood along the second-floor windows, spreading mute prayers

A broken umbrella that has lost its ability to compete with the scorching summer heat, held by an old man

Staggering, smiling in vain and dreaming, face covered with frost

Like holding, a lost and heart-burning memory

 

Finally, the rain slowly stopped

The sky was still gray, now as silent as washed plain cloth

The alleys are paved with mud and broken branches, and many heavy

The little girl squatted by the river and picked up a piece of soaked paper

The boat she folded yesterday, now only vague traces remain

 

Meditations

By The Hearth

 

In the wild grass, I sit, rain’s whispers my companion,

While the riverbank loses itself in autumn's twilight hues.

The tides play their endless games,

Blurring the lines 'twixt sails and chimney smoke.

This lone stretch of water spans an eternal distance—

Can one small flask of warm wine ever rival the blaze of a roaring hearth?

At midnight, I strike the chime of verse,

Seeking fleeting moments to return me to days long past.

But the tidings of my homeland—

Ah, how they tremble, elusive as ripples crossing the river's restless waves.

 

After the rain, the skies clear, the window gleams bright;

The small pavilion warms by the embers' lingering glow.

The waning candle, still with vigor,

Yet my heart clings to the tender boughs once breaking bud,

Bringing whispers of spring’s first breath.

Now, I lie content amidst the lake and forest,

The silver strands of my beard unbothered by time’s gentle touch.

Ever do I pluck at blossoms’ shadows,

Drunk with the kingfisher,

Together we fall into spring’s verdant embrace.

 

TZEMIN ITION TSAI

 

Prof. Dr. TZEMIN ITION TSAI (蔡澤民博士) was born in Taiwan (China). He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and two Masters of Science in Applied Mathematics and Chemical Engineering. He is a scholar with a wide range of expertise while maintaining a common and positive interest in science, engineering, and literature. Dr. Tsai is not just an accomplished poet, he is an essayist, novelist, columnist, editor, translator, academic, engineer, mathematician, and so many other things. His literary creation specializes and expertise in the description of nature, the anatomy of emotion and humanity, life writing, graphic writing, cross-domain writing, and so on. Dr. Tsai has carried out a number of educational research with the development of teaching materials in his country. He has won many national literary awards. His literary works have been anthologized and published in books, journals, and newspapers in more than 40 countries and translated into more than 20 languages. Tsai is a professor at Asia University (Taiwan), and editor of Reading, Writing and Teaching academic text. He also writes the long-term columns for Chinese Language Monthly in Taiwan. There are many famous poets from different countries in the world through his Chinese translations and introductions were able to be recognized by our people.