Google Translate gives the following meaning to the above Chinese poem

"I felt my soul
more and more like a bonsai"

Where do your other translated words come from? Could it have a negative meaning, like my soul has been limited in its growth and artificially shaped like a bonsai?

@anonymous14860 I have been really busy recently so I have not replied at all ... but today I have a little time -- Poetry is Art -- Art is imagination -- Google doesn't have much of either :D:D My artistic translation came from my imagination -- I prefer to have a optimistic view of Life -- The Original Chinese Poet might have a different idea as well -- If you used some time to view what a bonsai tree might have for the Chinese or Japanese mindset then you could have a different perspective as well ... thanks for making your comment --

Poetry.................poetry can be an art. It can be full of meaning and life, or it can be drab and dreary - it all depends on your perspective I guess

I mean there's the old saying 'A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words', and if that is so, then what is a picture OF a thousand words worth?

Poetry is often designed to make us question certain things in life....

What does water taste like?
How do 'hotcakes' sell?
If you buy a bigger bed then why do you have more bed room but less bedroom?
What happens when an 'uphill struggle' goes 'downhill' from then on?

......What happens if one synchronised swimmer drowns - do they all have to drown too?

Questions, questions, questions !!!!!!!!!!!!

You want 'poetry'?

Do your balls hang low
Can you swing 'em to-an'-fro
Can you tie 'em in a knot
Can you tie 'em in a bow
Do you get a funny feelin' when you bang 'em on the ceilin'
Cos you'll never be a teacher if your balls hang low !

There you go......poetry at it's best!

I made myself a snowball
As perfect as could be
I thought that I could keep it for a pet

I made it some pyjamas
And a pillow for it's head
Yet in the night it ran away....
But first it wet the bed !

When I awoke this morning
The earth was cool and still
And a pretty little birdie
Perched on my window sill

He sang a song so lovely
So carefree and so gay
That suddenly my troubles
Began to drift away

He sang of far off places
Of laughter and such fun
Twas like his early morning song
Brought up the morning sun

I stirred beneath the covers
Crept slowly out of bed
Then quickly closed the window
And crushed it's f*ckin head

I'm not a 'morning person' !

I wrote a long comment at Is China a good place for Westerners ...
Instead of writing more there -- I will continue here --- (happy)
I wrote -- I became invisible ( for a while until I am not so busy again )
so that I would not need to encounter more "interviews" or encounter other comments such as -- If you have lived in China for 27 years WHY are you in this international dating site? Or you are not suitable ... NOW at first I was annoyed some -- however, after more reflective thinking concerning these comments -- there is nothing wrong with these comments -- there are many different people using this Website and for those who are more practical about finding someone as quick as possible -- then asking many rapid fire questions or following a typical interview process -- would be pragmatic . However, I will think that this phenomena might not be so effective either. I became busy and I did not wish to continue being involved in this social phenomena thus changing my status to invisible will save time for me and others would might be interested in following this pattern. Secondly, I am not really sure how to help any new foreigner arriving in China for several reasons. Outside of putting really big effort into getting new teachers quickly acquainted with this School and helping them to find shops, sim cards, food, where to eat lalalalalalala and actually spending many hours to take them hither and thither -- I seldom visit expats or foreigners in Gz. (seldom is a nice way to say it ) My social lifestyle and nearly almost all expats or foreigners are quite different to say the least. I am not interested at all to join many social activities where there will be lots of westerners -- by the way I am not anti-social since I have many social activities that I am regularly involved with -- the difference being -- I spend 95% of my social time with Chinese. Thus Paul and Barry's blog plus others is most likely more helpful than mine . I also seem to have a challenge due to my economic qualifications or lack of -- for more than enough CLM members thus far. I do not have a house nor apartment nor the salary of well known business company or that of an International School -- nor do I have that misguided fantasy that Americans will receive generous retirement benefits given by the government. And should Trump be elected president of Land of Golden Opportunity then what some bloggers have predicted with different scenarios -- Well ... I guess I will not miss what I do not have in the way of affluent retirement benefits nor that large bank account along with the mortgage of a 500 grand house with 100 grand landscaping nor that really nice car. For those comments that consider some foreigners to simply be a "loser" because he or she came to China and accepted the lowly job of teaching ( and no way am I going to get involved with that extremely boring stereotype of -- he is just a kiddie english teacher or just has a white face blah blah blah ) Maybe there are some ... certainly was not me -- I used to earn 35,000+ RMB per month during the peak years. Due to several catastrophic social and financial disasters which do occur at times in some people's lives -- I continued on with life -- Thus I no longer have any townhouse ... cars (yes I had a driver's license for 22 years --) or motorcycles -- nor apartment -- I have no desire to get another driver's license either -- You can not see my Wechat moments if you have not added me -- where I took photos of huge traffic jams (which became moving parking lots ) while I was enjoying my cycling around -- Gz Metro is very convenient for me -- many people dislike it because they live in Central Gz or central Sz and must commute back and forth to work each day -- and they are truly stuck in the sardine can or the city jungle -- I am not . I have no qualms with squat toilets or many of Barry's posts or others. For Westerners -- unless you are willing to spend enough social time with Chinese -- then hopefully your potential mate will agree to enough of a radical change living with you in your desired backyard. Otherwise there could be more than enough "surprises" that might really frustrate you . For Chinese --- ditto -- There are places such as Richmond, Vancouver, Monterrey Park (Little Taipei -- California ) Toronto and probably a lot more that have lots of Chinese living there -- more to write next time ..

I mentioned that there could be "surprises" should either the Westerner or the Chinese not spend sufficient social time with those on the other side of the proverbial fence. Obviously, there are success stories and unfortunate situations as well. The forum has plenty of interesting posts made by the Chinese members which can be used as a springboard to begin to understand the real life situations. While living in northern Taiwan almost all of my coworkers married Taiwanese or Hakka women or those who came over from 1946-49. Most of the Westerners lived near each other on the top of a hill in a community that mostly had townhouses. These expats mostly refused to have any social living experience with the local people -- even though they were surrounded by them -- even though they were married to one of them as well. Each weekend there was a typical Western style BBQ with lots of meat, beer, snack food, etc... and lots of typical talk that would be found in a bar, BBQ, and such from Western environments. Most of the time I did not attend these activities for several reasons -- first my Hakka mate stubbornly refused to attend them -- I did not enjoy the banter and the style of bar talk or Western style that is typical of these kinds of BBQ -- there would be too much Taiwanese bashing and complaining about everything under the sun while living there too -- there would be derogatory comments made explicitly towards their Taiwanese wives as well -- and the Taiwanese wives would need to take care of the kids or try to get together with each other but even this was not easily done. There was a lot of bickering and conflict between these couples that seem to continue endlessly. Some was due to their personality and some was due to their cultural habits. Even my close Taiwanese married couples there were those who continually have argumentative discussions and those who seemed to get along more easily. I decided that I did not wish to enter into the phenomena of endless argumentative discussions thus I opted out -- and mostly went along with my Ex and her family clan. I noticed that IF I tried to give any reason for my suggestion or point of view -- I would receive 10 reasons for each single reason I had. I am trying to keep these comments as short as possible . I am too aware that I might be writing much with not saying anything -- anyway --

Mr.WarmLifeGz7, very interesting article you have here, I enjoyed reading it very much even though it was a struggle to read it. As an English teacher I am surprised that you write like this, hopefully you do not teach your Chinese students this style/form of writing. Use paragraphs my man!(rock)

Why do you write like it is one big long sentence? Please for my selfish sanity break your stories into "paragraph form" so it is easier to read and stay focused on what you are trying to impart to the reader. ;)

Thank you.......(sun)(d)