This poem makes use of a very interesting feature of the Japanese/Chinese languages. Characters don't need grammar to transmit their meaning or be sound when put together. Instead, the focus of the characters is to evoke an image or meaning, which can be interpreted in multiple ways. You can hover over the characters to see their meaning.

This poem is only 16 characters long, but it can be read in various directions. Here are some variations and their translations:

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(Read from top to bottom, right to left) Traditional Order

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(Read from bottom to top, right to left) Western Order

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(Read from right to left, bottom to top)

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(Read from left to right, bottom to top)

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My inspiration was that I did not have any inspiration, until rain began to fall. Very slowly at first. But it becamse intense quickly, with a completely grey sky, foggy vision, and even diagonal raindrops. The rain ended shortly after that, leaving behind a remarkably sunny day. As for the formatting, I was inspired by Su Hui's Star Gauge poem.

I wrote the poem in the traditional order with a sense of progression, a "little story", and then reinterpreted it in multiple directions.

I really like how the 雨 (rain) and 心 (heart) graphemes appear in many of the characters. It gives the poem a balanced and introspective typography.

Another cool detail is that the "corner" characters also reflect a progression:

Heaven (clouds) — Sets the atmosphere, the tone.

Rain — (Literally) precipitates the event.

Gaze, Hope — A human response.

Noise — The worldly conflict.

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