blue air snowbound pockets sailing the covered land that’s drifting white branches broken between the light we lie in the snow to sink beyond anyone’s sight the streamlets circle they wrap us in their ice-bound arms and we are one shining with the sun
Read MoreAutumn Night, A Note
Autumn Night, A Note Wei Yingwu (~737 – 792) By chance I think of you this autumn nightBetween my steps and song, and cooling skies:Within your quiet hills a pine cone falls,For you as well must not have closed your eyes. Chinese 秋夜寄邱員外韋應物 懷君屬秋夜散步詠涼天空山松子落幽人應未眠 Pronunciation Qiū Yè Jì Qiū …
Read MoreThoughts on a Quiet Night
Thoughts on a Quiet Night Li Bai (701-762) Before my bed the bright moon shines its light,Perhaps the frost now covers all the ground;I lift my head to see the shining moon,I bow my head to see my native town. Chinese 靜夜思李白 床前明月光疑是地上霜舉頭望明月低頭思故鄉 Pronunciation Jìng Yè SīLǐ Bái Chuáng qián …
Read MoreSpring Dawn
Spring Dawn Meng Haoran (689/691–740) Asleep in spring, unconscious of the dawn,The chirp chirp song of birds is everywhere.Last night the thunder, wind, and rain came long—How many blossoms now remain out there? Chinese 春曉孟 浩 然 春眠不覺曉處處聞啼鳥夜來風雨聲花落知多少 Pronunciation Chūn XiǎoMèng Hàorán Chūn mián bù jué xiǎoChǔ chǔ wén tí …
Read MoreGazing at Zhongnan’s Snow
Gazing at Zhongnan’s Snow Zu Yong (699-746?) As snow on Zhongnan Mountain floats in bloomsTo form beyond the peak in cloudy netsThe forest clears in brightly colored hues—But in the town, the cold and darkness sets. Chinese 終南望餘雪祖詠 終南陰嶺秀積雪浮雲端林表明霽色城中增暮寒 Pronunciation Zhōng Nán Wàng Yú XuěZǔ Yǒng Zhōng nán yīn lǐng …
Read MoreThoughts on Autumn (a micropoetry series)
drifting homewith the autumn leavescolored into the earth a spirit dreamas you walk along the lawnall covered in leaves this spot whereyou stand, moldedlike a statueand chiseled deepinto the earth my spirit laybeneath the autumn windinside a blanketof all your colors thoughts like a netwoven …
Read MoreFarewell to Mystic Mountain
Farewell to Mystic Mountain Huangfu Ran (~ 716-769) All day the water flows until it fades, unseen,At dusk, when grass grows deep in spring and earth recedes—At times, it’s true, the dogs will bark and chickens squawk,But who would pull an almond nut from berry seeds? …
Read MoreFresh Wood (for Luo Xue)
Fresh Wood (for Luo Xue) Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283) A sigh, sigh sound from woods up high to low;We close the gate and cover up with fur—Spring feelings flow along the mountain gorge;At dawn I rise to touch and look at her. Chinese 贈羅雪崖樵青文天祥 蕭蕭山下人閉門衣裘單春心動溪谷曉起捫松看 Pronunciation Zèng Luó Xuě Yá …
Read MoreQuiet in the Forests of Night
quiet in the forests of nightwatching with white eyesalone in the darknesswaiting for the one the pond was tornin ripples that marked the shoresilent as the woods around it—and the creak of the toads it was daythe wings yielded movementin the trees that came aliveand left us …
Read MoreSongs of a New Morning
from the shorewhere I can see it allas it floats away to some other landwhere the sun continues to shinefor centuries and treetopssway in the windfilling the grasswith wandering pollen * worn outlike a flag flownfor many years * alone herewhere your lips oncehad left a mark * onceI looked …
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