Night Duty in the Palace, Dreaming of a Hsien-yu Temple by Po Chu-i

Tired of my writing brush, I gazed out the window:
bamboo and pine were perfectly still.

At moonrise, a slight breeze came up,
like on those long-ago nights in the hills.

As though dreaming, I returned to the Hsien-yu Temple
near my home in the southern mountains.

When that palace water clock awakened me,
I thought it was the laughter of mountain streams.

translated by Sam Hamill

4 thoughts on “Night Duty in the Palace, Dreaming of a Hsien-yu Temple by Po Chu-i

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