The traveler sojourning
on the fields of Aki
stretches as in sleep,
yet he cannot sleep,
thinking of the past.
translated by Ian Hideo Levy
Month: December 2013
Pool by Ahmet Hasim
Deep down, the night has massed again
My darling smiles in her wonted place
My darling who doesn’t come by day
Appears at night by the pool.
The moonlight a sash for her waist
The heavens her secret veil
The stars roses in her hand.
translated by Bernard Lewis
going your own way: for Randy
once upon a time
in a foreign land known as LA
Jimmy, Gordon, and I drew a line
and then crossed over it
to put in the physical universe
a place where words mattered
and thus committed ourselves
to the culture wars
both Jimmy and Gordon left
within a year
to do battle elsewhere
you came to take their place
and crossed that line
to join me
standing tall
there was also Bill
and various others in and out
for a day or two a week
but you were there 24/7
my right hand
moral support
over those turbulent waters
and though we connected years earlier
in BG
over our own writing
it was the shared commitment to
the written word
our god literature
that cemented our bond
there was a price
we all paid
in varying degrees
to our own work
our livelihoods
the relationships we had
through those years
leaving scars on our psyches
we are proud to bear
and afterwards
when that spot in LA
like the others in the same battle
George Sand, Papa Bach, Chattertons
Charlotte, John Harris, Cokie
warriors too
finally succumbed to commerce
the low road
which always wins over those
taking the high road
we went our separate ways
still writing
still maintaining integrity
in our work
in our lives
you through your painting
as well as your words
walking your own path
regardless of critics
perhaps fueled a bit
by whatever it takes
to get through the night
the day
and your other passion
that floating disc you love
to throw to catch
but old friend
compadre
you continue on your way
following your vision
into the sunlight
refusing to adjust to fashion
but holding your own line
with courage
in the face
of an indifferent world
an old rock n roller
who just doesn’t know how
to quit
from the Man’yoshu: a poem by Takechi Kurohito
Where does it go for harbor
the tiny boat
with no gunwales,
that they rowed around Cape Are?
on friendship by Thomas Moore
“What though youth gave love and roses,
Age still leaves us friends and wine.”
on men & women: following a conversation with B
“Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest buds.
All men make faults”
William Shakespeare
“In matters of sentiment, the public has very crude ideas; and the most shocking fault of women is that they make the public the supreme judge of their lives.”
Stendhal
on conversation: a tanka for B
finally to talk
to someone about the things
that matter to me
books poetry written words
life beyond life’s drudgery
Invocation by Sowol Kim
O, name shattered.
O, name vanished into thin air.
O, name without response to my call.
O, name I will be calling till death.
You’ve gone before, I have said,
one last word etched on my heart.
O, my love nearest my heart,
nearest my heart.
The red sun hangs over the western peaks.
Even a herd of deer laments.
I am calling to you
as I stand on a lone hill.
I call to you till sorrow chokes me,
sorrow chokes me.
But my voice rings hollow in the vast void
between heaven and earth.
Should I turn to stone
I will be calling to you.
O, my love nearest my heart,
nearest my heart.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
the things we do: for Jimmy
when you asked me
to be best man
at your wedding
I didn’t realize
I had to embellish
the wild stories you told your niece
in my speech
but being your friend
I told of how you saved all of us
on the tour bus
from an alligator attack
in the Everglades
and on a fishing trip
battled pirates single-handedly
and thus saved the ship
Jimmy, old friend
the things we do for each other
so okay, the alligators
I can understand
I mean there were dozens of them
sunning themselves
and there could have been a feeding frenzy
the tour bus occupants being lunch
and you gallantly saving the day
bopping them on their snouts
kicking them back into the swamp
but pirates, Jimmy
outside Miami
that was a stretch
I did out of loyalty
for you
I did bring up those parking tickets
hundreds tumbling out of your glove compartment
back in BG
and you snickering
in that car of yours
you insisted I broke the rods
in the roof
while climbing on top of the hood
with alcoholic fueled bravado
a year later though
you got even
by driving over my foot
with your “mean red machine” van
one night
on our way to Lucy’s Burritos
which we could only find
drunk and at two in the morning
did we really drink that much
in those days
with you pulling on the beards of Texans
arguing with cops on Sunset Blvd
over the definition of jaywalking
and who won that race up the hill
in Malibu
Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy
my dear old friend
I miss your wit
your insightful comments
that sparkle in your eyes
just before trouble starts
how sad it is for me
to know we are both settling
ten thousand miles apart
me between Asia and Europe
you on the coast of Mexico
my only hope
one day
is to meet somewhere in between
so you can save us all
from the barbarians
for the first time
once again
Written By Chance by Li Ch’ing-chao
Fifteen years ago, beneath moonlight and flowers,
I walked with you
We composed flower-viewing poems together.
Tonight the moonlight and flowers are just the same
But how can I ever hold in my arms the same love.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth & Ling Chung
Leonard Durso 