Monday, January 27, 2020
AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM WANG WEI'S
"PASSING THE TEMPLE
OF TEEMING FRAGRANCE"
The pale sun fails
the green pines.
Where the river bends,
evening comes.
In your heart, zen
is eating the dragon.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM TU FU'S "SPRING VIGIL
IN THE IMPERIAL CHANCERY"
A sleepless jangle,
wind in the chimes.
I work tomorrow
yet all night long
the long empty hours.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM TU FU'S "NEW MOON"
The universe
does not change.
The mountains
are cold, empty.
In the courtyard
the dark, secret
flowers are bent,
heavy with dew.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM TU FU'S "CLIMBING ON
THE DOUBLE NINTH DAY"
I've been sick
a hundred years.
Trouble has turned
my hair grey.
And what! now I've
just stopped drinking.
~
AFTER A LINE
FROM LI SHANG-YIN'S
"WITHOUT TITLE (II)"
I chant
my poems.
The moon
chills me.
Its light.
~
FROM WANG WEI'S
"PASSING THE TEMPLE
OF TEEMING FRAGRANCE"
The pale sun fails
the green pines.
Where the river bends,
evening comes.
In your heart, zen
is eating the dragon.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM TU FU'S "SPRING VIGIL
IN THE IMPERIAL CHANCERY"
A sleepless jangle,
wind in the chimes.
I work tomorrow
yet all night long
the long empty hours.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM TU FU'S "NEW MOON"
The universe
does not change.
The mountains
are cold, empty.
In the courtyard
the dark, secret
flowers are bent,
heavy with dew.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM TU FU'S "CLIMBING ON
THE DOUBLE NINTH DAY"
I've been sick
a hundred years.
Trouble has turned
my hair grey.
And what! now I've
just stopped drinking.
~
AFTER A LINE
FROM LI SHANG-YIN'S
"WITHOUT TITLE (II)"
I chant
my poems.
The moon
chills me.
Its light.
~
