|
For the Prince in Exile (Li Chin, AD 750)
Peerless and solitary
You allow me to stay
Our first meeting night:
The height of autumn,
The air crisp-clear.
But the mists come soon,
Then the rain,
Then, toward morning,
The milky moon.
Then the thunder,
Then the flood,
Then your stoic sleep
While I drop tears
You scorn to weep
Carolyn Kizer
Night Thoughts While Traveling
A light breeze rustles the reeds
Along the river banks. The
Mast of my lonely boat soars
Into the night. Stars blossom
Over the vast desert of
Waters. Moonlight flows on the
Surging river. My poems have
Made me famous but I grow
Old, ill and tired, blown hither
And yon; I am like a gull
Lost between heaven and earth.
Kenneth Rexroth
Spring View
The nation is ruined, but mountains and rivers remain.
This spring the city is deep in weeds and brush.
Touched by the times even flowers weep tears,
Fearing leaving the birds tangled hearts.
Watch-tower fires have been burning for three months
Gay Snyder
Spring Prospect
The nation shattered, mountains and river remain;
city in spring, grass and trees burgeoning.
Feeling the times, blossoms draw tears;
hating separation, birds alarm the heart.
Beacon fires three months in succession,
a letter from home worth ten thousand in gold.
White hairs, fewer for the scratching,
soon too few to hold a hairpin up.
Burton Watson
Recording My Thoughts While Traveling at Night
A shore of thin reeds in light wind
a tall boat alone at night
stars hang over the barren land
the moon rises out of the Yangtze
how could writing ever lead to fame
I quit my post due to illness and age
drifting along what am I like
a solitary gull between Heaven and Earth
Red Pine
I Go Too
Each day when Court is oven I skip to the pawnshop
My nice Spring wardrobe underneath my arm.
Bit by bit, I am drinking up my clothes!
At night I return from the riverbank, quite soused.
Trying not to glance in the taverns – I owe them all-
Slipping past, I reflect on the shortness of life
Especially mine. I’ll never see seventy now
Well, not many do. Who wants to, anyhow?
Saffron butterflies browse deep in flowers;
Dragonflies dint the placid water now and then.
Soothe me, Spring wind! Keep me gentle forever!
Never cross-grained, as Light and Time pass over
Carolyn Kizer
|
