that’s right
all of it
every word
and also add
what I didn’t
say
too
Month: August 2014
Full Moon by Tu Fu
Isolate and full, the moon
Floats over the house by the river.
Into the night the cold water rushes away beyond the gate.
The bright gold spilled on the river is never still.
The brilliance of my quilt is greater than precious silk.
The circle without blemish.
The empty mountain without sound.
The moon hangs in the vacant, wide constellations.
Pine cones drop in the old garden.
The senna trees bloom.
The same clear glory extends for ten thousand miles.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
dreams of night
daylight
comes too quickly
the dreams of night
end
too soon
Begonia by Su Shih
The East Wind gently spreads her celestial glow
the moon slips behind her veil of perfumed mist
afraid this flower won’t stay up much longer
I light a tall candle to view her crimson face
translated by Red Pine
Chinese food: in conversation with Fang
eyes that speak
of 3000 years
of poetry
of song
the body erect
those slender shoulders
the eyes the mouth
hinting at a smile
there are many
questions to ask
but one talks
of food
chicken feet moon cake
and mouse
am I
dear Fang
supposed to eat
that
is it some kind
of test
to prove
how simpatico
I really am
does it
really truly taste
like chicken
or is that too
a myth
like Marco Polo
and spaghetti
and am I just
another Italian cowboy
lost
in those eyes
in the East
To A Traveler by Su Tung P’o
Last year when I accompanied you
As far as the Yang Chou Gate,
The snow was flying, like white willow cotton.
This year, Spring has come again,
And the willow cotton is like snow.
But you have not come back.
Alone before the open window,
I raise my wine cup to the shining moon.
The wind, moist with evening dew,
Blows the gauze curtains.
Maybe Chang-O the moon goddess,
Will pity this single swallow
And join us together with a cord of light
That reaches beneath the painted eaves of your home.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
The Southern Room Over The River by Su Tung P’o
The room is prepared, the incense burned.
I close the shutters before I close my eyelids.
The patterns of the quilt repeat the waves of the river.
The gauze curtain is like a mist.
Then the dream comes to me and when I awake
I no longer know where I am.
I open the western window and watch the waves
Stretching on and on to the horizon.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
All Of A Sudden by Orhan Veli Kanik
Everything happened all of a sudden.
All of a sudden daylight beat down on the earth;
There was the sky all of a sudden;
All of a sudden steam began to rise from the soil.
There were tendrils all of a sudden, buds all of a sudden.
And there were fruits all of a sudden.
All of a sudden,
All of a sudden,
Girls all of a sudden, boys all of a sudden.
Roads, moors, cats, people. . .
And there was love all of a sudden,
Happiness all of a sudden.
translated by Anil Mericelli
Moon, Flowers, Man by Su Tung P’o
I raise my cup and invite
The moon to come down from the
Sky. I hope she will accept
Me. I raise my cup and ask
The branches, heavy with flowers,
To drink with me. I wish them
Long life and promise never
To pick them. In company
With the moon and the flowers,
I get drunk, and none of us
Ever worries about good
Or bad. How many people
Can comprehend our joy? I
Have wine and moon and flowers.
Who else do I want for drinking companions?
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
If Only I Could Set Sail by Orhan Veli Kanik
How pleasant, oh dear God, how pleasant
To journey on the blue sea
To cast off from shore
Aimless as thought.
I would set sail to the wind
And wander from sea to sea
To find myself one morning
In some deserted bay.
In a harbor large and clean
A harbor in coral isles
Where in the wake of clouds
A golden summer trails.
The languid scent of oleasters
Would fill me there
And the taste of sorrow
Never find that place.
Sparrows would nest in the flowered
Eaves of my dream castle
The evenings would unravel with colors
The days pass in pomengrate gardens.
translated by Ozcan Yalim, William Fielder, and Dionis Coffin Riggs
Leonard Durso 