Month: March 2014

Setting Sail on the Yang-tsze by Wei Ying-wu (written to Secretary Yuan)

/ zdunno03 / 1 Comment

Wistful, away from my friends and kin,
Through mist and fog I float and float
With the sail that bears me toward Lo-yang.
In Yang-chou trees linger bell-notes of evening,
Marking the day and the place of our parting. . . .
When shall we meet again and where?
. . .Destiny is a boat on the waves,
Borne to and fro, beyond our will.

translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu

Yuan Tan-chiu of the East Mountain by Li Po (Li Bei)

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You, the dweller of the East Mountain,
You, the lover of the beauty of hills and valleys,
In the green spring you sleep in the empty woodland,
And hardly rise in the broad daylight.
The pine wind shakes your garment,
And the stony brook cleanses your soul.
How I envy you, who, unperturbed,
Are pillowed high in a mist of emerald!

translated by Shigeyoshi Obata

Sunday morning, 5am

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it rained during the night
my Turkish flag flutters
damp in the wind
the street is empty
but did I expect it
not to be
at 5 o’clock
in the morning
it’s Sunday all day
quiet now
after last night’s speeches
and chanting
people are still protesting
what is to them
a move to dictatorship
it’s all flashback
the sixties
something I survived
to find myself observing
here in my adopted land
the cat has followed me
out here to the living room
and sits on the back
of my chair
wondering
just what we will do
as I sit here wondering
what will become
of a people
I have grown
so very fond
of
this morning
all mornings
in ancient Istanbul

Fallen Flowers by Li Shang-yin

/ zdunno03 / 6 Comments

The guests have all left
their high pavilion

and in the little garden
a whirling storm of petals

they lie in random heaps
across the twisting path

and stretch into the distance
to catch the setting sun

it breaks my heart
to sweep them up

instead I stand and stare
till they mostly blow away

these fragrant-hearted beings
going the way of the spring

they die and earn their tribute–
the tears that spot my clothes.

translated by David Young

lately

/ zdunno03 / 5 Comments

I suppose my thinking
lately
is less muddled
than before
a good sign
no doubt
of future plans
or at least
of planning
for the future
and though there are things
familiar now
in an unfamiliar world
which will be lost
or actually replaced
by other things
which will in turn
become familiar, too
a sort of nostalgia
set in
as I walked my neighborhood
today
and it being slightly overcast
added to this semi-gloom
but here is where
I have set up camp
and all my ships
were burned long ago
home isn’t always
where your heart is
but sometimes your heart
is where you settle down
to rest