Happy Mountain, Beauteous Land

Book excerpt: A civil engineering professor emeritus from Michigan State University finds an artistic outlet for his midlifeand later lifemusings about personal, professional, and spiritual issues. It comes in the form of poemsfifty-seven in English and seven in Chinese. Professor Robert Wen immigrated to the United States from China in 1952, shortly after the Communist Party took control of his native land. After retirement, he has written three novels in English, two of which have been translated into Chinese, and a book on religion and another on philosophy. Poetry, however, has been one of his enduring passions. The collection reflects his keen observations about the world around him, as well as meditations on keeping a balance between work and relaxation, and between worldly and spiritual aspects of life. ... Be this the truth as well. I am here and now, In body and in spirit, Singing my song for this blessed valley, Serene like a starlit bay, Harboring a decent people at their rest, In glimmering lights their boats safely moored. In these lines Ill keep this evening evermore. From the last stanza of Poem M.1978: A SUMMER EVENING IN PLEASANTON