Birthday poem · July 12Minor Heat, the 11th solar term: the heat begins.
Birth character
歌 gē · song
歌 combines 欠, an open mouth, with 哥 as a sound element; it means to sing, or a song.
忽聞岸上踏歌聲
“When suddenly on shore footsteps and songs o'erflow.” — Li Bai, ‘For Wang Lun’
The poem
“Lotus-Picking Song” 采蓮曲
- 荷葉羅裙一色裁Lotus leaves and her silk skirt, cut from the same green;
- 芙蓉向臉兩邊開lotus flowers open on either side of her face.
- 亂入池中看不見She slips into the pond and vanishes from view —
- 聞歌始覺有人來only hearing the song do you know someone is there.
Why this poem
Wang Changling: lotus pickers blend into the lotus until you hear them sing.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Minor Heat.