WHITE

“Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” - Hermann Hesse

This week, The New What’s Going Blog has set as its theme: “Letting Go”. I think that letting go of a relationship that is over and done with is a very difficult thing to do. However, unless we gather enough strength to let go, we cannot move forward, and of course cannot open ourselves up to a new relationship… Here is my poem (and song!) on precisely that.

White

My tablet’s scraped clean;
My life a palimpsest keen
New scripts to receive.
A page bleached, all blank
So white, so frank…
The past behind to leave.

I start again, hope dressed in white
Showing me paths to futures bright;
I throw all painful memories away,
And bold, I face each new day.

The sun is shining, candid above
It lights the world, fills it with love;
My heart now dares faster to beat
Wakened by Spring’s soft heat.

New love, all innocent and pale,
Grows tender, burgeons quick,
Enters my every fibre to assail;
And lights my soul’s spent wick.
On milky white page, so clean
A new story to write I’m keen…

Your snowy hand I want to hold,
My burning love to warm its cold;
Your heart vulnerable to render
Your castle strong to make surrender.

Let’s live a love that’s strong
Beautiful as a sweet song;
Through a prism our white
Will myriads of colours light.

New love, all innocent and pale,
Grows tender, burgeons quick,
Enters my every fibre to assail;
And lights my soul’s spent wick.
On milky white page, so clean
A new story to write I’m keen…

The poem is set to music, and you can find all my music in my “Otidorchestre” Instagram Channel or listen to it on YouTube,  Spotify,  Amazon, Deezer, Flo, Pandora, and other music sharing sites.

TRAVEL TUESDAY 531 - OLD CITY, SHANGHAI, CHINA

"There is something in Shanghai that is very exciting and alive - the idea of a city with two different souls, one from today and another from a long time ago, is amazing." - Alessandro Michele.

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and then share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

The Old City of Shanghai (Chinese: 上海老城厢; pinyin: Shànghǎi Lǎo Chéngxiāng; Shanghainese: Zånhae Lo Zenshian), also formerly known as the Chinese city, is the traditional urban core of Shanghai. Its boundary was formerly defined by a defensive wall. The Old City was the county seat for the old county of Shanghai.

With the advent of foreign concessions in Shanghai, the Old City became just one part of Shanghai's urban core, but continued for decades to be the seat of the Chinese authority in Shanghai. Notable features include the City God Temple, which is located in the centre of the Old City and is connected to the Yuyuan Garden.

With the exception of two short sections, the walls were demolished in 1912, and a broad circular avenue built over the former wall and moat: the southern half was named the "Zhonghua Road" and the northern half the "Minguo Road" (together making up "Zhonghua Minguo", or "Republic of China" in Chinese). The Old City was for decades essentially coterminous with the old Nanshi District, which is now part of Huangpu District.

Yu Garden or Yuyuan Garden (traditional Chinese: 豫園; simplified Chinese: 豫园; pinyin: Yù Yuán, Shanghainese Yuyoe Wu, lit. Garden of Happiness) is an extensive Chinese garden, first built in 1559, and  located beside the City God Temple in the northeast of the Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District, Shanghai. It abuts the Yuyuan Tourist Mart, the Huxinting Teahouse and the Yu Garden Bazaar.  Boasting over 40 scenic spots, including pavilions, rock formations, and ponds, it is now a key site under state-level protection.

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THE STARRY SKY

“Nothing prevents happiness like the memory of happiness.” - André Gide

This week, The New What’s Going Blog has set as its theme: “The Things I’ll Remember”. Memory is a powerful force in our life and is indispensable to our wellbeing and health - one only has to look at the dire effects of dementia… My poem looks at a perfect memory that will persist till the moment I’ll no longer be able to remember or think of anything anymore…

The Starry Sky

On a clear and dark night
We gaze up and see stars;
Cold and clear is their light,
Burning in the small hours.

Your hand’s in my hand,
Our breaths synchronised;
We sit still on the sand
Making memories prized.

High up all the planets align,
Our arms firmly entwine;
Hear the music of spheres,
That’s delight to our ears.
How the sky conspires
With its starry bonfires,
Our true love to inflame
Lighting our heart’s flame.

While we wait for the dawn,
We embrace and we kiss;
Wide-eyed we look on,
Not a moment to miss.

As a star falls from above,
We wish never to part,
And swear that our love
Will forever be in our heart.

High up all the planets align
While our arms firm entwine;
Hear the music of spheres
That’s delight to our ears.
How the sky conspires
With its starry bonfires,
Our true love to inflame
Lighting our heart’s flame.

The poem is set to music, and you can find all my music in my Instagram site “Otidorchestre” channel or listen to it on YouTube, Spotify,  Amazon, Deezer, Flo, Pandora, and other music sharing sites.