Those years, I was a green-youthed wanderer;
today I come again, a white-haired old man.
From those years to today makes one whole lifetime,
and in between, how many things have had their day and gone!
translated by Burton Watson
Month: September 2018
every time
the heart runs faster
every time
you smile
“One cannot refute what one has not thoroughly understood.”
from Douglas Moore’s Art of Quotation
taking a cue from Po Chü-i: where I belong
sometimes the dreams
are filled with faces
of those long gone
or absent in time
a sorrow here
in my heart
each morning
when I awake
but then a walk
along this shore
waves gently breaking
on ageless rocks
a cup of filter coffee
at a café
the aroma of freshly baked bread
a walk up the hill
watch the ships sail
mind peaceful
body at rest
sorrow may be part
of who I am
but let the dreams fade
here is where I belong
begins to fill
hear the call
to prayer
hear footsteps
on an empty street
the air sits still
the cat asleep
night turns slowly
into morning
and my heart
once empty
begins to fill
again
Tune: “Treading on Grass” by Ou-yang Hsiu
At the post house lodge, plum flowers scattering,
by the valley bridge, willows coming out,
fragrant grass, warm wind that sways the traveler’s reins:
parting grief–the farther apart, the more endless it grows,
long and unbroken like a river in spring.
Inch on inch of gentle heart,
brimming, brimming, her rouge-stained tears:
the tower so tall–don’t go near, don’t lean on the high railing!
At the very end of the level plain–spring hills are there,
but the traveler’s even farther, beyond spring hills.
translated by Burton Watson
from Tune: “Prelude to Water Music” by Su Tung-p’o
Bright moon, when did you appear?
Lifting my wine, I question the blue sky.
Tonight in the palaces and halls of heaven
what year is it, I wonder?
translated by Burton Watson
“Work isn’t to make money; you work to justify life.”
from Douglas Moore’s Art of Quotation
following a line from Su Tung-p’o
oh heart
that holds memory
so dear
release me
“Our duty as storytellers is to bring people to the station. There each person will choose his or her own train…But we must at least take them to the station…to a point of departure.”
from Douglas Moore’s Art of Quotation
“Our duty as storytellers is to bring people to the station. There each person will choose his or her own train…But we must at least take them to the station…to a point of departure.”
Federico Fellini, director
Leonard Durso 