from Douglas Moore’s Art of Quotation
You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.
Month: March 2020
Pebble by Bedri Rahmi Eyüpoğlu
When I think of you
A pebble warms in me
A bird settles on the edge of my heart
A poppy flourishes suddenly
A poppy bleeds insidiously
When I think of you
A plum tree dresses up from top to bottom
Starts to spin hysterically
As it spins, it dissolves bit by bit
As it dissolves, it dwindles
Becomes a deep blue plum in my mouth
Its seed has just sprouted
My lips burn when I touch
When I think of you
A pebble warms in me
translated by Burak Tıraş
blossoming dreams: for Vessy Gekova because she asked me to
the light
in her eyes
brings memories
of uncluttered blue skies
flying high
with blossoming dreams
of joy
“Readiness to answer all questions is the infallible sign of stupidity.”
from Douglas Moore’s Art of Quotation
Readiness to answer all questions is the infallible sign of stupidity.
Against Conscription by Wei Chuang
In what dynasty, under what emperor,
did we live without war?
And in every war
every man dreamed of peace.
And now the farmer
finds more bones than soil.
And here comes the draft board,
wanting more bodies.
translated by Sam Hamill
Spring Evening on Pan Mountain by Wang An-shih
Spring breezes erase the flowers,
leaving me in a state of yin.
This quiet downhill road leads by
a half-hidden bower where I’ll make my bed.
Straw sandals, a walking stick–
I wander the world alone,
only a few northern birds pass by
like the memory of a beautiful song.
translated by Sam Hamill
Reaching the Pa River Pavilion in the Second Month After Being Summoned Back to the Capital by Liu Tsung-yuan
Eleven years ago I was a southbound exile
after four thousand li I’m in the North again
together with the summons warm weather arrived too
along the postal route new flowers every day
translated by Red Pine
Recalled to the Capital, I Send This to Friends back in Lingling by Liu Tsung-yuan
I keep thinking about this minnow in that tiny pond
then I worry about these puny wings trying to reach Heaven
I’ve lost count of the markers along the shore
each one farther from where we parted
translated by Red Pine
“Why can’t people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?”
from Douglas Moore’s Art of Quotation
“Why can’t people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?”
Early Spring in Lingling by Liu Tsung-yuan
Before it departed I asked Spring
when it would reach the Ch’in Plains
and could it carry a dream back home
all the way to my old garden
translated by Red Pine
Leonard Durso 