Tuesday, December 31, 2019
THE ANSWER
Monday, December 30, 2019
AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS
THINKING OF HAN YU
A goose for
supper, then.
"Which to slaughter?"
the boy asks.
"Kill the one
who cannot sing."
~
AFTER TWO LINES
BY YUAN CHEN
The river wind
sings in the trees
as in a dream.
I sit and watch
the sun come up
and think how far
we are now from
one another.
~
AFTER "LATE SPRING"
BY YUAN CHEN
Birds talking and stirring the dust;
wind closing the gate at sunset;
petals falling off the flowers:
here I sit, alone and lonely.
~
AFTER TWO LINES FROM
TU MU'S "THE CRANE"
All day alone,
the crane, sad
with only
his shadow.
~
AFTER SSU-K'UNG T'U'S
'IN THE COUNTRY'
All night under
a shelter of
pines I sit
drinking wine
and thinking
the rain is
flower petals
falling all
around me,
thinking why would
that old monk
I talked to want
to see someone
like me again.
~
WHAT IS LOST
What is lost
in autumn?
Leaf falling,
green gone from
this grey world,
the turn which
tears your heart.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
TO THOSE POETS
Saturday, December 28, 2019
DESIRE
Friday, December 27, 2019
AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS
AFTER LINES FROM
MENG CHIAO'S
SEEING OFF MASTER T'AN
Better we should
spend our time
trying to fly--
none of us who
depend on poetry
has gotten fat.
~
THINKING OF WANG WEI
You wonder
what is truth?
The fisherman
fishes.
~
AFTER A FEW LINES
BY CHIAO JAN
The wind says
keep moving,
even at
evening,
even in
autumn.
~
AFTER TWO LINES
BY KUAN HSIU
Poets chanting
like madmen
set the mountains
to dancing.
~
AFTER A LINE
BY LIU YU-HSI
She danced
as if
spring had
come and
all along
the river's
green terrace
swans were
rising.
~
MENG CHIAO'S
SEEING OFF MASTER T'AN
Better we should
spend our time
trying to fly--
none of us who
depend on poetry
has gotten fat.
~
THINKING OF WANG WEI
You wonder
what is truth?
The fisherman
fishes.
~
AFTER A FEW LINES
BY CHIAO JAN
The wind says
keep moving,
even at
evening,
even in
autumn.
~
AFTER TWO LINES
BY KUAN HSIU
Poets chanting
like madmen
set the mountains
to dancing.
~
AFTER A LINE
BY LIU YU-HSI
She danced
as if
spring had
come and
all along
the river's
green terrace
swans were
rising.
~
BROKEN / SILENCE
Thursday, December 26, 2019
THE SURPRISE
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
ANOTHER MORNING
The cook is
frying a ham steak.
The sear of it,
the aroma.
The waitress is
pouring coffee,
hot and black
and slightly burned.
Somewhere
in the distance,
a siren.
There are stories
you can tell and
stories you can't.
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
DAYLIGHT
Monday, December 23, 2019
SEE: HOW FAR
See: how far
from love we've
gone when love
is all we
want. Foolish-
ness is our
last choice,
as I touch
you, and you
accept it;
as mirrors
accept
light and
the night
gives it back.
AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS
TS'AO CHIH'S WISDOM
The poet
sees the world
as it is
for the first time
a cicada
sheds its skin.
~
SAYING GOODBYE
TO LO PIN-WANG
Yes, the dead are still
gone from us and
the water is cold.
~
AFTER A LINE
IN CHANG CHIH-HO'S
FISHERMAN'S SONG
Drunk, fishing late, one
does not feel the cold.
~
AFTER ANOTHER LINE
IN CHANG CHIH-HO'S
FISHERMAN'S SONG
To find joy
in facing
wind and water
you don't need
to be a saint.
~
AFTER A LINE FROM
MENG CHIAO'S
FAILING THE EXAMINATION
A knife wound,
my sadness.
~
Sunday, December 22, 2019
FEEDING THE BIRDS: SOLSTICE 2019
Hands which bless
the birds bless
all things.
I feed them
in the cold.
They thank me
with their noise.
Birds which bless
the man bless
all things, too,
all the way
to heaven.
THE IS-NESS
The is-ness
of this
existence
is as
stars are
to sky,
points which
light marks
when we
look, then
they fade
as all things
fall beyond
understanding.
Beauty rides
a pale horse.
You would
believe this,
if you
could see it;
you could
see it, if
you believed.
Saturday, December 21, 2019
ALL MORNING
Friday, December 20, 2019
AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS
AFTER TWO LINES
BY SHAO YUNG
My wine cup glows
red with reflected
flowers and,
yes, to see them
how can I not
go home drunk?
~
AFTER TWO LINES
BY CHAO KU
Where
is the singer
when the song
is done
and the last
note lingers?
~
AFTER A LINE
BY WANG CHUNG
My one success,
too, has been
getting old.
~
AFTER TWO LINES
IN TZU-YEH SONGS #4
Is it the spring
breeze which turns her
mind to love, which
undresses her?
~
SHE THINKS OF 'LET ME GALLOP,
LET ME GO' IN THE SHIH CHING
I, too, walk the slope
picking toad-lilies.
A woman like me
will find her way.
~
ALL WHICH
All which
I see
you see
and which
you see
I see
though we
may not
notice
these things
or may,
which means
one of us
may catch
his breath
in wonder.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
THE OLD MONK
The old monk knows.
Though his desire
might not be quick
as a young man's
his banked fire
smolders and waits.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
AS IF / THE FLOWER
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
IN EVERYTHING
In everything
we repeat
we repeat
everything.
That is the
poet's duty,
to keep the wheel
in motion,
the mind moving
wind on water,
making one wave,
another.
Monday, December 16, 2019
ALL THAT
Sunday, December 15, 2019
THE MONK ADJUSTS
Saturday, December 14, 2019
THE EYE / NEEDS
Friday, December 13, 2019
MASTER'S WISDOM
The old monk
says: The path
to enlightenment
is like standing
in the rain.
I can't tell you
more than that.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
EVENING DEEPENS
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
LATE AUGUST SKY
Mother Hawk
turns the world
to autumn.
All small things
avoid her shadow.
All small things
accept their lot.
We ourselves
lost our wisdom.
Mother Hawk
knows what is
left to gain.
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
ODOR / IS
Monday, December 09, 2019
UNDERSTANDING
Leave off
whispering,
I say, and
speak up.
The wind
rises.
The light
brightens.
The voice
of God
is lost
among
the birds'
chirping.
I have to
make my
guesses.
Sunday, December 08, 2019
THE DIFFERENCE
Saturday, December 07, 2019
THE PLACE
Wednesday, December 04, 2019
THE MONK
Tuesday, December 03, 2019
LOVE AND DEATH
Monday, December 02, 2019
HOW MUCH
Sunday, December 01, 2019
CHICORY
A moment
of chicory
in wind. A
swing of sun
against the
blue heart of
this last earth.
When we go
from here, it
will be gone.
