not here
any more
nor there
any longer
but safely within my chest
where it belongs
doing what it’s supposed to do
and nothing more
not abstract duties
just purely mechanical functions
and let it be known
both here
and there
I’m quite happy
with the way things stand
Month: January 2014
Tune: “Jade Butterflies” by Liu Yung
where I gaze
the rain is ending and the clouds break up
as I lean at the rail in anxious silence
seeing off the last of autumn’s glow
the evening scene is lonely
enough to chill Sung Yü to sadness
though touch of wind and rain is light
the duckweed gradually grows older
in moon’s frost cold
the wu-t’ung leaves whirl yellow
giving love is taking pain
where are you now?
the misty waters vast, and vague.
it’s hard to forget
writing or drinking
how many nights alone beneath a clouded moon
again the changes, stars and frost
the seas are broad, the heavens far
and no way home.
the swallows pair
and I depend on letters
I point into the evening sky
to sight in vain the returning boat
at dusk we’ll gaze toward one another
in the sound of the swan’s cry
standing till the slanting sun is set.
translated by Jerome P. Seaton
A Song of “Night After Night” by Ou-yang Hsiu
The drifting clouds disgorge a bright moon,
Its fleeting shadow darkens the jade staircase.
A thousand li away we share the same reflection,
But how can I let you know this heart night after night?
translated by Irving Y. Lo
from Go Ask My Tears by Hafiz
With this burning heart, how can I tell you what I see?
Go ask my tears, for they are honest and without sin.
translated by Thomas Rain Crowe
from T.S. Eliot
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
from “Deva-like Barbarian,” Five Lyrics by Wei Chuang
Everyone says it is good to live south of the Yangtze;
The traveler can but stay there until he grows old.
The spring waters are more blue than the heavens;
On the painted boat drowsily I listen to the rain.
The girl who pours wine is like the moon;
Her wrists are as bright as frosted snow.
If you are not yet old, don’t return home;
To return home is to be broken hearted!
translated by Lois M. Fusek
On The Yo-Yang Tower With His Friend, Chia by Li Po (Li Bai)
Here from the tower we may view
The whole fair region of Yo-yang,
And the winding river
Opening into the Tung-ting Lake.
O wild geese, flying past,
Take away with you the sorrow of the heart!
And, come, thou mountain, give us thy happy moon!
Here will we sit to feast
And tarry a while with the clouds
And pass the cup high above the world of cares.
When we are goodly warm with wine,
Then, thou cooling breeze, arise!
Come and blow as we dance!
And our sleeves will flap like wings.
translated by Shigeyoshi Obata
That Mountain Far Away: a song from the Tewa tribe
My home over there, my home over there,
My home over there, now I remember it!
And when I see that mountain far away,
Why, then I weep. Alas! What can I do?
What can I do? Alas! What can I do?
My home over there, now I remember it.
translated by Herbert J. Spinden
First Fig by Edna St. Vincent Millay
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–
It gives a lovely light!
Travel by Edna St. Vincent Millay
The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn’t a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.
All night there isn’t a train goes by,
Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,
But I see its cinders red on the sky,
And hear its engine streaming.
My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I’ll not be knowing;
Yet there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take,
No matter where it’s going.
Leonard Durso 